Tamil Nadu: 5 govt school teachers transferred after sexual harassment complaint from 3 students

COIMBATORE: Five teachers, including a woman from a government school at Kinathukadavu in Pollachi, were shifted to various schools on Monday following allegations of sexual harassment by girl students.

Three girl students shared two videos a few days ago on social media, accusing their botany and music teachers of misbehaving with them. They claimed that the music teacher touched them with the wrong intent during dance practice, and the botany teacher behaved inappropriately under the pretext of patting as a gesture of encouragement.

The students, who made the startling revelation in the videos that surfaced with their faces covered, also accused another teacher of coming to class drunk. They claimed to have circulated the video after the school authorities failed to initiate any action on their grievance. However, the authorities said that they did not receive any complaint of sexual harassment from the affected students.

After these videos were shared widely, triggering outrage, officials from the School Education department and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) conducted an inquiry into the allegations.

Also, cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the two teachers, and further inquiries are underway. In a further development, the education department authorities transferred the teachers to various schools in Vettaikaranpudur, Thondamuthur, Pollachi, Othakalmandapam and Kulathupalayam.