Kerala: Child Welfare Committee seeks report on school torture

ALAPPUZHA: Headmaster A.A. Xavierkutty of Leo XIII Higher Secondary School here is in the dock with at least eight class IX students  accusing him of  physical and mental torture. However, the headmaster has denied the charge saying that a shopkeeper on the campus had instigated the students to complain against him following a dispute over the items being sold to the students.     The  shopowner  on the other hand said that he had only helped the students to write their complaints and given it to the district child protection officer.

The students gave their complaint to the  district Child Welfare Committee on November 6 and the  CWC has sought a report from the DCPO.  The complaint written by one of the students has accused  the headmaster of  grabbing the students’ genitals and  showering abuses on them.  “He put  a stick inside our  trouser as we did not  insert our  shirt and  squeezed our  belly  after taking  us  inside a room. When we cried for water,  he asked a boy to drink the urine of another,” said the petition with the signature of all eight  boy students along with the contact numbers of their parents.

Ms  Marykutty,  CWC chairperson in-charge, said that the petition  was considered in the sitting a few days ago and  that DCPO Sabu Joseph  had been asked  to submit a report.  The mother of a student told DC that she had  given a withdrawal note to Mr Sabu Joseph. It is alleged that the headmaster had faced similar charges earlier.  In 2016, when he was serving as headmaster of  St. Joseph High School, Pravoor near here, the parents   had accused him of torturing their wards.  A case is still under consideration of the CWC.

Another class IX student had complained in September that the headmaster had grabbed his chest for not answering  the questions. The mother of that student told DC that she had  withdrawn  the complaint after he sought pardon from them. Mr Xavierkutty said the present case was the outcome of a conspiracy hatched by  Mr Shaji, the grocery shopkeeper.  “I had  restricted the students from  going to the shop as we were unsure about the items being sold there. I had asked the manager to get the shop sealed,” he said.   Recently,  these students were kept out of the class for a couple of days since they returned to the school very  late after lunch break.  The shopkeeper took advantage of that circumstance, he said.

Mr  Shaji alias Thomas Joseph,  who is also para-legal volunteer of Kerala State Legal Service Authority (KSLSA),  said that he had been running the shop  on  contract  for the last 14  years and that he had close association with the school management for the last 19 years.  “Since I am a volunteer of KSLSA, I am duty-bound to report to the authorities  the child abuse and help the victims out. They told me about their ordeal and I asked them to write it as a complaint in a piece of paper which  I gave  to the DCPO.  However,  he has   delayed the report so that the accused will get time to influence the kids and their parents,” he alleged.