GD Birla principal 'relieved' of charge, school reopens today

Kolkata: After remaining closed for the past few days following the incident of sexual assault of a four-year-old girl, the GD Birla School at Ranikuthi will reopen from Thursday.

The school authorities have given a written statement to the representatives of guardians who held a meeting with the school authorities saying that the principal of the school has been relieved from duty. The vice- principal will officiate as principal from Thursday when the school reopens.

Confusion however prevails over whether the Principal of GD Birla School has been permanently removed even after the meeting that took place between the guardians' forum and the school authorities on Wednesday. The guardians said that when they asked if it was a permanent removal, the school authorities did not explicitly state anything and added that a police investigation was underway.

Some of the guardians who had attended the meeting claimed that the school authorities at the meeting agreed to remove the principal and therefore the normal functioning of the school is expected to resume on Thursday.

The chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights Ananya Chakraborty and senior police officers were also present at the meeting.

The guardians who took out a peaceful rally to celebrate the moral victory later on Wednesday evening said that it was decided in the meeting that a forum of guardians would be formed with varied representation which would discuss the betterment of the school. The forum would meet with the school authorities periodically.

It was learnt that during the lengthy meeting with school management and police, that the guardian representatives of GD Birla School stuck to their demand — the permanent removal of the principal Sharmila Nath who had made some controversial statements before media after a four-year-old girl student was sexually assaulted in the school premises last week.

A spokesperson of the guardians' representative said: "It has been a moral victory for us. We have not moved one inch from our original demand, and ultimately the school authorities have relieved the principal from the duty. The investigation will take its own course."

Meanwhile, the police on Wednesday interrogated four persons including a class teacher, an Ayah and a security personnel at Lalbazar in this connection.