Two accused teachers get 2 days' police custody

Kolkata: The two teachers accused of sexually abusing a four-year-old girl of GD Birla Centre for Education in Ranikuthi in South Kolkata were sent to two days' police custody by the Alipore Court on Saturday. Meanwhile, guardians continued their agitation in the school for the second day this time demanding resignation of Sharmistha Nath, the principal.

The guardians who held a rally in the area on Saturday morning and was joined by the victim's father have formed a guardian's forum to press for the safety and security issue of the school that has come under scanner after the recent incident.

It is learnt that the guardians will assemble in front of the school gate on Sunday morning and will hold the first meeting of the forum and then a silent march to Jadavpur police station. They will hand over a complaint there and demand the arrest of the school principal.

The state Education department in its enquiry into the incident of sexual abuse has come across serious lapses in infrastructure as well as safety measures in the school. The three-member team of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education that visited the school on Friday has already prepared a report. "We have already forwarded this to the Education department," WBBSE president Kalyanmoy Ganguly said.

Anil Swarup, school education secretary in the Human Resource Development Ministry who was in Kolkata termed the incident as unfortunate and said that the state government should take steps.

The two accused teachers — Avishek Roy and Mohammad Mofijuddin — were produced at Alipore Court with the sleuths praying for 14 days' remand of the two. "We have to interrogate the two accused to find out whether they had abused the victim earlier also or whether they had done this to any other student of the school. We will reconstruct the entire sequence so their custody is important," Sourin Roy, public prosecutor said. The court allowed two days' custody for the accused and directed the police to produce them at the designated court at Alipore that deals with Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act. The police had slapped POCSO on the duo that may lead to a maximum quantum of life imprisonment for the duo. The guardians have demanded recruitment of more female attendants in the school and have been vocal that no male teacher will be allowed in the school which is only for girls till Class X. "The main duty of our forum will be to ensure security of the students. We are also inviting schools that have similar problems to lend their support to us," Souvik Chakraborty, a member of the forum said.