SCHOOL OFFICIAL, TRANSPORTER IN TROUBLE

Chandigarh, Finding serious lapses and dereliction of duty on the part of school administrator and transporter of Stepping Stone School of Sector 38, in the molestation case of a five-year old-child, the Chandigarh Commission for the Protection for Child Rights (CCPCR)today recommended lodging of an FIR against them. Besides, the UT Education Department Committee in its report also found the school authorities guilty for not informing the department and the police well in time about the complaint.
KK Bhadoo, the DPI (School), said that the report of the UT Education Department Committee found the school authorities guilty for not acting on time and informing the department about the incident. The Education Department Committee comprising Deputy Education Officer Vinay Sood and principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School Hardip Singh today submitted its report to the DPI (School).
In case of the Child Commission, a three-member committee presided over by the chairperson, Devi Sirohi, held emergency meetings for two days.The probe was conducted under Section 14(1) (a) to (c) of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005. The chairperson said she had sent a report to the Inspector General of Police today for further action. Today, the hearing of the committee went on for six hours in which the statements of the parents of the child, the driver of the bus and the class teacher was recorded.
Observations of commission
As per the provision of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, there are serious lapses and dereliction of duty (under Section 19 and Section 21 (2)) not only on the part of school administrator Caption Sanjiv Kumar but also that of transporter Amrik Singh.
The school failed to take cognisance of the seriousness of the issue and the provision of law, which necessitated immediate action of filing a police complaint within 24 hours.
The safety and well being of the children during school hours and also while commuting on school buses is the responsibility of the school authorities which the respective school has failed to perform.
The safety of the girl was not given due attention and compromised upon by the school authorities.
Kumar and Amrik Singh instead of taking immediate appropriate action, showed total callousness and insensitivity while dealing with the sensitive issue.
Inquiry report
May 8: Parents informed transporter Amrik Singh about the incident. He took no action against the conductor and instead continued his services till the matter took a serious turn.
May 11: Parents complained of the child being molested in the bus by the conductor to school administrator Sanjiv Kumar. Later in the day, class teacher Manju Bala confirmed that the incident had taken place. The parents insisted that an appropriate action be taken against conductor Jagjit Singh, who was the accused in the case. The administrator then informed the parents that his services was terminated. The administrator told the parents that he was not keen on taking any further action on the conductor and threatened the parents of dire consequences.
May 12: On repeated request of the parents to take action against the conductor, the school administrator insisted they submit a written complaint.
May 13:The conductor admitted that he had committed the offence in the presence of the administrator. Sanjiv Kumar then asked the parents to forgive the conductor. The principal, Anu Kumar, became aware of the incident on May 13.
Recorded statements
Parents: The mother told the commission that the child had been complaining of pain in her private parts for the past one year. But she did not pay much hed to her complaint thinking that it could be some allergy and gave her medicine when ever she complained of pain.
Driver: Jasvir Singh said he had not noticed the involvement of the conductor in any such activity in the past four years. But he did not deny that such incident could not happen in the bus. He said that the father of the conductor had slapped him at the meeting held in school on May 13 where he accepted that he had committed the offence.
School teacher-cum-counsellor: Manju Bala confirmed that during the counselling the child told her about the conductor molesting her in the bus. She then informed the administrator about the incident.

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