Headmistress and assistant booked for forcing Dalit boy to clean toilet in Kovai

A headmistress and an assistant head mistress of a government school in Coimbatore were booked under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act on Tuesday for forcing a Dalit student to clean toilet.

According to police, the eight-year-old boy studying Class 3 was forced to clean the toilet at the Panchayat Union Primary School at Thondamuthur near Semmedu in Perur on 29 March.

As the boy refused to go to school the next day, his parents inquired and got to know of the abuse meted out to him by the two teachers.

When the boy’s mother visited the school and questioned Headmistress, Jayanthi, (53) from Perur and Assistant Headmistress Thanga Mariammal, (47) from Thondamuthur, they also spoke to her with disrespect.

Based on a complaint from the boy’s mother, a police team visited the school and held an inquiry with the students. After ascertaining the facts, the police booked both Jayanthi and Thangamariammal under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and Juvenile Justice Act 2015.

Further inquiries underway.