The ghastly murder of a seven-year old boy in one of the famed private schools of Gurugram in Haryana has raised the concerns of the parents here about the safety of their wards. Seven year old Pradhyuman, a student of class II of Ryan International School Gurugram was murdered by school bus conductor on Friday when he failed in his attempt to sexually abuse the boy in school toilet. The incident has sent shockwaves among the residents of provisional state capital known in the country for its famed schools.
The All Uttarakhand Parents Association (AUPA) is planning to launch a phased agitation to ensure that schools are made accountable for safety of the students. The General Secretary of the association Sudesh Uniyal said that the President of the association Neeraj Singhal is in Delhi and is holding discussions with legal experts and other parent association on the issue. He said that incidences of abuse and crime against students in Private schools of the state have increased in recent past. “In one of the schools the chairman was accused of sexual harassment of girls while in another a female teacher asked the girls students to remove their clothes. These schools are charging hefty fees from the parents.
The parents deposit the fees and admit their wards in these schools only on the name of the schools. If something bad happens to the students then it is the responsibility of the school management to ensure safety of the students,’’ he said. Uniyal added that all these private schools enjoy political patronage due which they escape whenever such incidents happen.
The Gururgram incident has prompted the Director General (DG) of Uttarakhand police Anil Kumar Raturi to issue a security advisory to all the schools. He has said that the police verification of class IV employees of the schools should be done and CCTV cameras to be installed in the schools to prevent occurrence of such incidents.
The parents appear very concerned for the safety of their wards in the schools. “We leave our kids in the school campus. On the pretext of security the schools don’t even allow entry parents but such incidents prove that the students are not safe in the schools. The Government should make rules for safety of children in the schools and the school administration should be made accountable if something happens to children in the school campus,’’ said Rajani Sharma, a resident of Defence Colony.