Students locked-up in room for hours by Hyderabad school officials for not paying fee, allege parents

Hyderabad: Three students of Gowtham Model School, Himayathnagar, were not allowed to take their exams on Friday and were made to sit in a separate room for failing to pay the school fee.

However, the students’ parents alleged that the children were locked-up in a room for several hours.

The school management has denied the allegation.

The managemnt clarified that the students were only barred from writing their exam. They were made to sit in the adjacent room, where an attendant was also present to take care of the kids.

Apart from these three students, several other students too were barred from taking their exams.

The three children — Om Yadav, Vinayaki Yadav and Gowri Yadav and — are siblings and students of Classes III, VI and VII respectively.

Chandra Mohan Yadav, the students’ father, is a trader. He had defaulted on the fees, and the total amount had mounted to Rs 65,000.

“The children were taken out of the class and made to sit in another vacant room. The school officials had also locked the room and kept the kids inside for hours as a punishment,” said Rupa Yadav, the kids’ mother.

Based on her complaint, a case was registered against the principal and vice-principal of the school under Section 342 (Punishment for wrongful confinement) of the IPC, Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act. The case is being investigated.

Meanwhile, the school management said that Chandra Mohan Yadav had not paid the school fees for almost a year. In fact, last year’s dues were cleared only recently.

“We have been reminding them (the Yadavs) to pay the due amount. We had also sent a written reminder in the school diary, but the parents did not respond. As the due amount was very big, we told the parents that their children cannot take the examinations if the due was not cleared.

“They were not allowed to take the exams and were only made to sit in an adjacent room. They were not confined or locked-up. There was also an attendant present in the room to take care of the kids. After the exam, the three kids were sent home,” the school management clarified.

According to Laxmina-rayana, sub-inspector of police, Narayanaguda, “The parents alleged that their children were confined in the room, though the school management has denied the allegation. We are checking the facts in the case and will take relevant action based on the findings.”