The guardians of students of GD Birla Centre for Education – a school in South Kolkata
where two teachers allegedly sexually assaulted a kindergarten student – staged a road blockade on Sunday in protest against the institute’s decision to remain closed for an unspecified period of time Monday onwards, The Hindu reported. The parents also demanded the resignation and arrest of the school’s principal Sharmila Nath.

“The school authorities cannot take such an abrupt decision to keep the school closed for an indefinite period as it will jeopardise the future of students,” the daily quoted an unidentified guardian as saying.

Advertisement

Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police (South Division) Rupesh Kumar said holding talks on the road was not feasible. He said he was trying to persuade the parents to lift the blockade and move to a nearby auditorium where they can discuss the matter with the school management, PTI reported.

A seven-member team of the guardians of the school’s students, including the complainant’s father, filed a police complaint against Principal Nath. “The principal was aware of the crime, and she tried to conceal it,” The Hindu quoted the lawyer of the girl’s father as saying.

Parents protesting against the school management had clashed with the police late on Friday night, NDTV reported. The principal and several other teachers were stuck inside the school premises and had to be escorted out by the police after 1 am.

Meanwhile, the school installed closed circuit television cameras outside and inside the premises between late Friday night and Saturday morning, The Telegraph reported. A number of protesting parents said they had been demanding the installation over the past three years. GD Birla said it had not installed the surveillance cameras despite another alleged incident of a student’s sexual assault in 2014 because the investigation in that case had been “inconclusive”.