Maharashtra: Principal Arrested for Strip Search of Schoolgirls

Mumbai: The police have arrested the principal and a peon (both women) of a private school in Palghar after they allegedly stripped girl students to check if they were menstruating after blood stains were found in the school’s bathroom. Apart from the principal and peon, the police have also booked two more teachers and two school trustees under the POCSO act.

The police on Wednesday night arrested the school’s principal and a woman attendant who allegedly stripped the students and checked their private parts for menstruation, police said.

The incident occurred at the school in Shahapur area of Thane district. After bloodstains were found in the toilet, the uniforms of 125 female students from grades 6 to 10 were removed to check which students were menstruating.

It sparked an outrage among the girls’ parents, who protested on the school premises and sought action against its management and teachers involved in the episode. Based on the complaint filed by parents, a case was registered against the school’s principal, four teachers, the attendant and two trustees.

The case was registered against the eight persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 76 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, police said.

The issue was also raised in the Legislative Assembly where the Congress and NCP (SP) leaders sought arrest and immediate sacking of the principal. Minister Girish Mahajan assured the House that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had already taken cognisance of the case and the police had initiated immediate action. “There will be strict action in the case,” he said.