Thane: School principal, attendant arrested after students made to strip to check for menstruation
Four teachers and two trustees of the institute were also booked.
The principal and an attendant of a school in Maharashtra’s Thane district, both of whom are women, were arrested on Wednesday after about 10 girls from Class 5 to Class 10 were allegedly asked to strip to check if they were menstruating, The Indian Express reported.
Four teachers and two trustees of the school have also been booked in connection with the incident that took place on Tuesday.
The parents held a protest at the school on Wednesday, prompting action by the Thane Rural Police, the newspaper reported.
The incident took place when bloodstains were discovered in the school washroom, according to the police. In response, the school staff assembled female students in a convention hall and displayed images of the stains using a projector.
The girls were asked to state if they were menstruating. Those who said yes had their names and thumb impressions taken, The Indian Express reported.
The others were taken to the washroom, where attendants allegedly stripped and checked them to confirm if they were menstruating, under the supervision of teachers and the principal.
In one specific case, the principal allegedly accused a girl of lying about her menstrual status and questioned her for wearing a sanitary pad. She then allegedly forced the girl to give her thumb impression, according to the complaint filed by the child’s parents.
“My daughter came home shaking,” the Hindustan Times quoted the parent of another student as saying. “She told me she was forced to take off her clothes in the washroom in front of other students. This is not discipline, it is mental harassment.”
Following a complaint, the police registered a case against the principal, teachers, attendant and the trustees.
They have been charged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to assault with intent to outrage a woman’s modesty and disrobing, and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The police were trying to identify witnesses and collect additional evidence from the students, The Indian Express reported.
