Schools and colleges
are increasingly becoming hotbeds for sexual harassment against girl students ,
the government and activists said, over 60 cases involving females were booked
in the past five months.
The AP Women's
Commission said they were deeply worried as all cases of violence and
harassment involves girl students and most of the perpetrators have turned out
to be employees of an institution, including teachers, professors and even
principals.
About 150 cases have
been reported from Hyderabad and Cyberabad police limits in the last two months
alone, with cases of molestation and attempted rape emerging from Hayatnagar,
Madhapur and Mirpet in Cyberabad, activists said.
In July, a school
owner was arrested for allegedly molesting a student studying in his school in
Jeedimetla.
Last month, a school
principal of a state-run school in Nalgonda district was arrested for raping a
15-year-old student and even getting her pregnancy forcibly terminated .
In another case in
Vijaywada last month, a school teacher was arrested and subsequently sacked
after being accused of harassing female students of class VI and VII.
"The commission
has intervened in all the cases of sexual harassment against girls which have
come to its notice in the past five months. We have sought necessary help from
concerned officials of the district administration and even the police,"
said Sunitha Krishnan, member of the AP Women's Commission.
"All victims have
been given the relief due from the state, including counseling and monetary
compensation of Rs 50,000 - Rs 1 lakh in the case of minors," she said.
Women and child rights
activists in the city said there were over 50 cases of harassment against girl
students reported over the past three months, with about 60% of them being
taken up by the police.
They also said that
cases were also emerging from private tuition classes and coaching centers.
Experts in the field
of women and child rights said that most schools lack a screening mechanism for
recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in schools, thus compromising on
security of school children.
"Many
institutions, mostly private ones, have no system of checking their employees'
background such as criminal records, family background etc. Focus is only on
teaching experience and expertise," said Isidore Philips of Divya Disha, a
city-based NGO working towards the rights of women.
60
cases of sexual harassment cases have been booked in the past five months. This
is in addition to hundreds of complaints of attacks in the same period.
Most
of the perpetrators of the abuse have turned out to be teachers, professors and
even principals of schools and colleges Most schools lack screening mechanism
for recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff.
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