The Kancheepuram district police on Thursday, June 19, registered an First Information Report (FIR) against a government school principal in Sriperumbudur under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act for allegedly criminally intimidating a tribal Irular parent who approached her for obtaining a Transfer certificate for her ward.
The FIR has been registered against Gnana Selva Jothi, the principal of Sriperumbudur Girls Higher Secondary School, who is currently absconding, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
The action comes a week after around 20 Irulars and some social activists staged a protest outside the school demanding action against the principal for using derogatory language against the Irular family.
On the day of the protest, senior police officials from the district and education department officials had defended Jothi in her claim that she had not used such language.
According to the FIR, the complainant S Ragini approached Gnana Selva Jothi for a transfer certificate for her daughter studying in Class 7 of the school, first on June 3.
Ragini alleged the principal had refused to give the TC and spoke to her in a harsh manner and did not even ask her to sit despite having empty chairs in her room.
Later, she was asked to meet the principal twice, on June 9 and then on June 11, to request for the transfer certificate.
On June 11, when she met Jothi in her office, the principal allegedly insulted her by making derogatory comments about the former's appearance. On all three days, the alleged misbehaviour of the principal transpired in the presence of other teachers of the school, the complainant said in the FIR.
Ragini also pointed out that on June 11, the principal once again did not ask her to sit down despite chairs being present. She said one parent who was talking to the principal just before her was sitting on those chairs, making a case for discriminatory behaviour, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
Based on this, Sriperumbudur inspector S Dharmalingam registered the FIR under BNS sections for criminal intimidation and usage of obscene language and corresponding sections of the SC/ST PoA.
