Chennai: Following outbursts from parents and activists, Thiruvannamalai Collector K.S. Kandasamy has relieved Kumar Thakur, principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya from his post on Monday. The district collector is the chairman of Vidyalaya Management Committee (VMC) of Kendriya Vidyalaya.
Kumar Thakur was facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act when he was principal at KV school in Bengaluru.
Activists in the state were enraged when the principal, Kumar Thakur was transferred from Bangaluru to Tiruvannamalai a few weeks ago.
The Collector said he had sent a written communication relieving him from the post of principal. He also requested the KVS (Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan) to appoint a new principal as soon as possible.
Terming it as a good move, M.P. Nirmala, chairperson of Tamil Nadu Commission of Protection of Child Rights asked, “How can a person with a sexual harassment case be posted in Tamil Nadu?”
“Even if a sexual harassment case is filed, the teacher has to be placed under suspension until the probe is completed, if it is proved, even all his certificates will be forfeited. Our rules in Tamil Nadu are clear,” she said.
Thakur was forced to leave from the bengaluru campus as soon as a case was filed in January 2017. From there, he was transferred to Karwar in Karnataka before being transferred to Tiruvannamalai.
“When it comes to child sex abuse allegations against teachers, there is an issue at the national level as there are no clear rules to deal with it. Transferring the teacher alone is not enough,” said Andrew Sesuraj, state convener of Tamil Nadu Child Rights Observatory.
“A person who has been accused of abusing children should not be given a position where he meets children. The Kendriya Vidyalaya can use him for other official purposes,” he said adding that this is the right case to evolve the national level guidelines or standing order.
The case was brought to the fore in January 2017, when Kumar Thakur, Principal of the Kendriya Vidyalaya School in Sadashivanagar, Bengaluru was accused of sexual harassment by students, especially from the 10th and 12th standard for over three years. He would send inappropriate and suggestive messages to women staff too, said the complainant Vasudeva Sharma in his petition.
“The Principal, claiming to be counselling girl students would ask them into his room and meet them alone for more than half to one hour, where he would show them inappropriate videos and images,” Vasudeva Sharma, the complainant said.
