No FIR against headmaster accused of sexual misconduct

Seven girls staying at a residential school run by the state government in Yerawada have finally broken their silence and accused the headmaster of making sexual advances Despite this the Social Welfare Department has only issued a showcause notice to the person concerned asking him why he should not be terminated from service The matter has been put up for further inquiry but no FIR has been lodged against the headmaster Under a cloud The residential school for children of state conservancy staff in Yerawada where the headmaster has been accused of seeking sexual favours from girl students aged between seven and 12 years PicKrunal Gosavi The incident came to light after the girls narrated their ordeal to the regional deputy commissioner of the Social Welfare Department following which an investigation was initiated against the headmaster Officials slammed Child rights activist Anjali Pawar expressed shock over the fact that no FIR had been registered against the headmaster ldquoIt is the responsibility of the government authorities to lodge a police complaint against the person considering the children are from the weaker sections and staying in a hostel Such children are under the protection of the staterdquo she said ldquoBy shying away from their responsibility are the officials waiting for a more serious offence to happen at the hands of this personrdquo Minister of Social Justice Shivajirao Moghe claimed to have no knowledge of the happenings but said he would ensure strict action against the guilty ldquoThis is a serious matter I will ask my officers to take stringent action against those involvedrdquo he said Yadav Iraba Gaikwad 38 the headmaster of the residential school meant for children of state conservancy staff is accused of seeking sexual favours from the girl students and their mothers He allegedly used to ask the girl students to come to his residence on the premises of the boarding school force them to perform cleaning and sweeping work and often beat them Anonymous call Anil Kamble the Regional Deputy Commissioner of the Social Welfare Department said an anonymous call had led to the department opening an investigation in the matter ldquoIn the month of April we had received an anonymous call and the caller had informed us that Gaikwad was involved in such activities which can tarnish the image of teachers and as well as the departmentrdquo Kamble said ldquoLater I sent our two officers including a lady officer to go to the residential school and investigate the matterrdquo Shocking details Prabhakar Pardeshi the investigation officer said they were shocked by what the girls told them ldquoWe reached the school and interacted with the girl students During the interaction seven girls aged between 7 and 12 told us some shocking things mdash that the headmaster Gaikwad has been trying to molest them by seeking kisses touching inappropriately and also asking them to call their mothers to give him a kissrdquo Pardeshi said Kamble said the headmaster confessed to making the girls do cleaning work at his home and beating them to ldquodisciplinerdquo them but refuted the other charges ldquoAs the matter was serious we took statements of these girls and later initiated the inquiry and summoned Gaikwad on April 4 2012 to the office but he refuted all the charges and informed us that he had not done such things to the girlsrdquo Kamble said ldquoBut he confessed and apologised that he had called some of the girls to his residence to perform the cleaning work and also told us that he had beaten up some girls in order to teach them some disciplinerdquo Fresh offence claim After the inquiry against Gaikwad he was furious and allegedly again thrashed one of the seven girls for complaining against him but the girl contacted the officers investigating the case and narrated this incident as well Kamble then sent him a showcause notice copy with MiD DAY asking why he should not be punished for his activities ldquoWe received the reply to the notice in which he had refuted all the charges against him we then sought the suggestions from the district Social Welfare Office on the reply but the district office gave negative remark terming the case as sensitive and seriousrdquo Pardeshi said ldquoAfter receiving their reply we wrote our remarks and recommended stern action against Gaikwad and also recommended that he should be terminated from servicerdquo Pardeshi said another inquiry would now be conducted by Director of Social Welfare Department R K Gaikwad ldquoWe have sent the report to the Director of Social Welfare Department R K Gaikwad who will be doing another inquiry At the end of the inquiry he headmaster will be punishedrdquo Pardeshi said On why the police complaint was not lodged against the headmaster Pardeshi said the decision would have to be taken by the directorate office ldquoOur job was just to investigate the case and submit the report but whether to file a police complaint against Gaikwad will be decided by the directorate office as they are the competent authorityrdquo Pardeshi said Demanding kisses from girl students gtgt A STD VII girl student has stated in her complaint that the headmaster called her to his residence on a Sunday to clean his house and later demanded a kiss from her As she was scared she ran away from his residence gtgt A Std II girl student complained against Gaikwad in her statement saying he had asked her to bring her mother to the school and when her mother did so he demanded a kiss from her gtgt A Std IV student told the investigating officer that the headmaster had asked her elder sister to come to the school and after meeting her and taking her number he would call her gtgt A Std IV student stated in her complaint that the headmaster used to call her mother frequently and used to invite her to his residence What upcoming bill for protection of children from sexual abuse says Chapter 5 mentions the procedure for reporting of cases of sexual abuse Under Section 19 1 it is mandatory for any person who is in knowledge of such offence to share the information with the local police or the juvenile cellu00a0