Miss-Delectable
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63 disabled kids accuse staffers of harassment - The Times of India
Sixty-three students of a residential school for the speech and hearing impaired walked 20 km to the district magistrate's office without food or water to complain against molestation and ill-treatment by staffers.
The students from Gandhi Ghar Ashram Shala at Kachholi village near Navsari made these allegations in a 12-page complaint letter to the district magistrate on Tuesday. On Monday, they had approached the local police which refused to register an FIR.
One of the incidents narrated in the letter was about Kanchan Patel, a tribal student who is in Std XII. On September 24, 2010, when she was having lunch in the hostel mess, a staffer sat close to her, held her hand and harassed her openly in front of other students. The boys too complain of molestation by the caretaker of the hostel.
The girl students alleged that a woman employee at the girls hostel asks them for money and jewellery. This employee is also accused to beating up the girls if they complain about not being given food.
The boy students say they are regularly sent to buy bidi, cigarette, gutkha and liquor by the hostel warden. When some of the students, who have got addicted to tobacco, ask for it, the staffers demand a body massage.The complaints are specific with date, time and names.
The response of the school was swift. On their return from the district magistrate's office, the students were not allowed to enter the campus and made to wait outside in the freezing cold from 6 pm to 11 pm. The district social security officer, K M Patel, the staff of collectorate, policemen and a few parents were witness to this.
When contacted, Dharmesh Naik, a school official said, "All the allegations are false and an earlier rusticated 14 year old student is trying to create disturbance in school administration."
Navsari district collector, D P Joshi initially said that it was a non-issue and that the school administration had resolved the problem. Later, on being questioned again by TOI, he said that the social security officer would be asked to look into the case and file a report in three days.
Sixty-three students of a residential school for the speech and hearing impaired walked 20 km to the district magistrate's office without food or water to complain against molestation and ill-treatment by staffers.
The students from Gandhi Ghar Ashram Shala at Kachholi village near Navsari made these allegations in a 12-page complaint letter to the district magistrate on Tuesday. On Monday, they had approached the local police which refused to register an FIR.
One of the incidents narrated in the letter was about Kanchan Patel, a tribal student who is in Std XII. On September 24, 2010, when she was having lunch in the hostel mess, a staffer sat close to her, held her hand and harassed her openly in front of other students. The boys too complain of molestation by the caretaker of the hostel.
The girl students alleged that a woman employee at the girls hostel asks them for money and jewellery. This employee is also accused to beating up the girls if they complain about not being given food.
The boy students say they are regularly sent to buy bidi, cigarette, gutkha and liquor by the hostel warden. When some of the students, who have got addicted to tobacco, ask for it, the staffers demand a body massage.The complaints are specific with date, time and names.
The response of the school was swift. On their return from the district magistrate's office, the students were not allowed to enter the campus and made to wait outside in the freezing cold from 6 pm to 11 pm. The district social security officer, K M Patel, the staff of collectorate, policemen and a few parents were witness to this.
When contacted, Dharmesh Naik, a school official said, "All the allegations are false and an earlier rusticated 14 year old student is trying to create disturbance in school administration."
Navsari district collector, D P Joshi initially said that it was a non-issue and that the school administration had resolved the problem. Later, on being questioned again by TOI, he said that the social security officer would be asked to look into the case and file a report in three days.