Guardians block rail at Barrackpore, call for 'no male teachers'

Kolkata: Commuters were seriously inconvenienced after some local people put up a rail blockade at Barrackpore Station in Sealdah main line on Monday morning.

Some guardians whose children study at the primary section of Barrackpore Girls' High School put up a blockade at rail gate number 13 near Barrackpore Station, demanding an immediate withdrawal of male teachers from the school.

Incidentally, it may be mentioned that on last Saturday, a girl student of nursery had allegedly been abused by a male physical education teacher of the school. He was later arrested by the police on charges of molesting the student. The accused had been remanded in police custody.

Two days after the incident took place, the guardians staged a protest demonstration. They demanded that there should be no male teachers in the school. They also demanded that CCTVs must be installed inside the school campus.

The agitating guardians alleged that there are male security guards and attendants in the school who should be removed immediately, failing which they would organise a bigger movement against the school authorities.

The rail block led to the suspension of train services in the Sealdah main section for some time. This prompted the senior railway officials and police to rush to the spot.

It has been learnt that there are a total of 19 teachers in the primary section of the school, among which 4 are male teachers. The agitating guardians said that female teachers must be appointed in the posts of male teachers.

The accused physical education teacher Sujay Dhara had been arrested on the basis of specific charges. The guardians also said that they would not allow the accused teacher to join his duty.

The family members of the victim told the police that the accused had molested the child on several occasions in the past two weeks and he had also threatened the victim of dire consequences if she informed the matter to her family.

Many people faced difficulties while going to their workplaces due to the rail block on Monday morning. The blockade was lifted after senior police and railway officials assured the guardians that their demands would be looked into and stern action would be taken against the accused. Normal train services resumed in the Sealdah main section after nearly an hour, sources said.