On receiving a complaint from the National Association of Parents and Student's Rights (NAPSR) about harassment and molestation of students in some boarding schools of Dehradun, the chairperson of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Usha Negi has directed chief education officer of Dehradun to investigate the matter. According to the complaint letter written by the president of NAPSR Arif Khan to the commission, several cases of students being harassed in hostels of residential schools have come to light in recent times. While in some cases, the culprit gets the punishment but the schools do not face any consequences for their negligence towards the safety of students, as per Khan. He states that most of such incidents occur in the hostels of boarding schools. According to him, some schools also try to harass and pressurise the victims to maintain the reputation of their institutes and in some cases they even help the accused. He also mentioned a recent incident in his complaint letter in which a nine year old child was allegedly harassed and molested by the hostel warden.
He said that though the culprit was arrested by police, the school administration did not face any charges. He also mentioned another case in which a school management helped an accused to escape.
Considering the complaint, Negi asked the chief education officer to investigate the matter and submit the report to SCPCR within 15 days. She also advised the officer to cancel the NOC of the schools found neglecting the protocols set by administration for the safety of students.