The headmaster of a government school in Rajasthan’s Barmer district was arrested on Tuesday for harassing girl students and pressuring them into “inappropriate” relationships, police said.
He said the accused had promised students favorable treatment in examinations and sports in exchange for “illegal” behaviour.
An audio clip purportedly capturing a conversation between the headmaster and a student surfaced, leading to his arrest.
According to the villagers, this is not the first time that such allegations have been made against the headmaster. He claimed that he had been accused of similar misconduct earlier too, following which he apologized and apologized at the village council meeting.
On Tuesday, residents demonstrated demanding strict action against the headmaster.
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Villagers alleged that many students had stopped attending school due to harassment by the headmaster, who allegedly used to have obscene conversations over phone with female students.
The protesters met District Collector Tina Dabi and urged her to take action. Following Dabi’s instructions, a team of Nagana police station arrested the headmaster on Tuesday.
The headmaster is accused of pressurizing the students by promising them full marks and certificates in sports and scouting. He allegedly forced students to talk to him on the phone and stopped them on school premises for behaving “inappropriately”.
In the audio recording that surfaced, the accused is allegedly heard pressurizing the student for illicit relations.
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On Monday evening, the villagers submitted a memorandum to the Barmer Collector demanding immediate action.
According to the police, recently the headmaster allegedly attempted to pressure a girl student into having inappropriate relations through video calls during the Diwali holidays, as a result of which some of the girls refused to go to school.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Madan Dilawar took the incident seriously and said the alleged actions were “extremely condemnable and shameful”.
“Such actions are unacceptable in a sacred institution like a school. I have directed senior officials to immediately investigate and ensure strict action,” he said in a post on Twitter.
Following his instructions, District Collector Dabi asked the sub-divisional officer to submit a report on the incident.
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