Woman asks for CCTV footage of son's 'harassment', school refuses

Sixyearold Advik Shetty who studies in Dombivlibased The Shri Ram Universal School TSUS has had a traumatic last month owing to alleged harassment by a teacher But what has riled up his mother further is that the school is allegedly trying to pin the blame on the boy asking him for a mental fitness certificate of the familyI suspect that my son has been sexually assaulted and thats why the school management is refusing to show me the CCTV footage said Sushmeeta ShettyShe lodged a police complaint against the teacher on September 10 after failing to get a proper response from the school authorities The Manpada police are investigating the caseWhat happenedIt all started on September 7 after Advik quarrelled with a classmate over a trivial issue The teacher Sneha Kashid allegedly thrashed Advik and with the help of a security guard dragged him down from the first floor to the ground floor resulting in him sustaining bruises and cutsAfter learning about the incident from Advik I wrote to the principal and visited the school the next morning September 8 Despite repetitive requests the school management did not show me CCTV footage of the staircase from where my son was dragged by his hands and legs like an animal she told middayAdvik Shetty suffered bruises in the alleged assault at The Shri Ram Universal School in DombivliAfter the school found out that Sushmeeta had approached the police and media it prepared a notice for her and handed it to her on October 1 when she came to drop Advik off to school School authorities said unless the documents asked for in the notice were submitted the boy wouldnt be allowed to attend classesThis is with the reference to the email dated September 8 2018 stating a complaint against a teacher in the school which you had marked to the police media and various other organisations it would have been ideal if you would have first made an attempt to reach out to the principal In purview of the matter the school recommends a A therapeutic intervention for the family counselling services b A documented report of the above stating the same c A written apology and d An affirmatory note that no such incidences will be repeated in future We request you to refrain from sending your child to school until the above documents are submitted reads the notice dated September 25Ministers interventionSushmeeta then wrote to State Education Minister Vinod Tawde whose office intervened His office directed me to the zilla parishad and later to the panchayat samiti Two representatives of the latter visited the school on October 23 and instructed the principal to allow Advik to continue his classes she added However she alleged since then they have been harassing him in school even more by deliberately pinpointing every small mistake of his and informing her about it in backtoback emailsThe other sidePrincipal Radhika Srinivasan rubbished the charges and said We are disappointed by these false allegations and condemn the actions to malign our reputation The Shri Ram Universal School is nationally acclaimed and a reputed educational institution Because the parent and childs conduct had become disruptive and abusive professional counselling support was extended to help the child overcome the condition keeping his and others safety in mindThe notice the school handed over to the boys mother demanding several documents from the familyWhen asked about the reason behind asking for a mental fitness certificate Srinivasan added He has been attending the school under a counsellors guidance the school management and faculty have been patient and cooperative at all stages despite his violent behaviour The matter is under investigation and we are cooperating with the authorities and family to resolve the matter amicably and ensure safety of all students23No of days the sixyearold wasnt allowed in schoolCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates