Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)
Mangaluru, May 29: More than two-and-a-half months after the sexual assault on an LKG student, the management of Mangalore One School on Friday May 29 came out in the open to clarify on the incident, and said that there had been no cover-up or negligence on the school's part.
An LKG student of the school had been sexually assaulted allegedly by Madhukar, the driver of her school van on March 13 this year. Since then, there have been demands by a few, specially the United Muslim Organization, DK unit to close down the school.
Addressing a press meet on Friday, chairman of Mangalore One School Sharat Saxena said, "Disinformation is going around regarding the issue. Why should I protect the accused - and how can I protect? I am as normal as anyone, and I can assure that there has been no cover-up. Within half an hour the police had arrested the driver, so the question of a cover-up does not arise at all.
"We had done police verification before employing the driver. He had no previous criminal record and there were no complaints against him in the past. We also installed CCTV cameras in the school premises even before the guidelines were given by the government. We met the mother and the child the very next day and promised to do whatever we could to help them. We even offered free education to the child in our school," he said.
Asked why the school management took so long to approach the media, he said, "I should have held a press conference before, but I thought police was conducting inquiry and did not expect things to blow out of proportion. I am also media shy."
About security measures taken folllowing the incident, he said, he said, "We have appointed lady attendants for every school vehicle and doubled the number of CCTV cameras.
"We have not done anything wrong, so how can we be held responsible? We have done everything expected of us. We could have been held responsible if there had been negligence from our part, but that is not the case," he reiterated.
"The issue was communalized and politicized. There is no communal angle to it - for us all religions are the same. Here a girl child has been affected and we are sensitive to her needs," Saxena added.
In a press note, the school further states, "All allegations (against the school) are totally baseless and false, and these have arisen due to two reasons: (1) Pure ignorance of people regarding the incident; and (2) Deliberate attempt to cause damage to the school mainly by our competitors.
"To put the record straight, we present the following 100% true facts:
- Management is interfering in investigation to protect accused driver (allegation) - Totally false. The Management never wanted to protect the accused. Also, the management cannot protect the accused and what they say has no value anyway. The police at the highest level (viz CID) is conducting the investigation. The CID will definitely do justice. The accused has been in jail for over 75 days, and he will be chargesheeted if found guilty on evidence.
- Management is negligent in the commission of offence (allegation) - This is totally untrue. All government departments (including police, DC, education and women child department) have conducted enquiries against the school, and nobody found any negligence on the part of the school.
Principal Naavya, headmistress Nayan, and educationist J M Shahid were present.