Tamil Nadu: Headmaster 'instigates' schoolgirls to file 'fake' sexual harassment complaint against teacher, booked

Madurai (Tamil Nadu): Headmaster of a government school here was booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly engaging two students in filing a sexual harassment complaint against a male teacher as a ‘revenge’. The incident came to light when police investigated the complaint registered against the male teacher in which two female teachers were also named only to realise the allegations were ‘fabricated’ and the complaint was made to settle personal score with the teachers, officials said on Thursday. As per cops, the headmaster had called 1098 (Childline) on August 6 to inform about the complaints from the girls against the physical education teacher placed in the school’s complaint box. Subsequently, the Child Welfare Committee members inquired about the incident and lodged a complaint with the Oomachikulam all women police station, as a first step. Where, a POCSO case was registered against the 3 teachers at the Karupayurani Police Station on the same day. Madurai DIG Ponni and SP Siva Prasad took up the case and revealed that the school headmaster instigated the girls to file a false complaint allegedly to settle a personal score with the teachers. The police officers in a statement said, that as soon as they started investigating the case, the female teacher who were also accused in the case tried to tell them about the false allegations and that the complaint was made out of personal vendetta of the headmaster. Later when the higher officials investigated this case, the children revealed, “We did not write the letter ourselves. We wrote that because the headmaster of the school said so. The physical education teachers did nothing wrong with them”. Following this, the concerned girls were produced in before a judicial magistrate. Based on the statements of the girls and the interrogation of the witnesses, the above complaint was found to be false. Subsequently, the AWPS inspector filed a final report in the case in the POCSO special court on August 11, saying the complaint was bogus. Accepting this statement, the court closed the case on October 31. This is the first time the POCSO Act has been imposed on the headmaster for inciting female students to file false complaints to take revenge on their fellow teachers in the state. South Zone IG Asra Karg praised the officials including Madurai DIG Ponni, SP Sivaprasad, Oomachikulam DSP and a female police inspector who investigated the case and brought out the truth quickly on the basis that innocent people should not be punished. IG Asra Garg ordered the registration of a case under the POCSO Act against the school principal who filed a false complaint. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.