Women activists take swing at institutional failure to stop child abuse

Women activists across the nation on Monday lashed out at the Beed incident where a school teacher sexually abused girl students.

Activist, Brinda Adige said, "The fact that the school has simply suspended the teacher just goes to show that even schools and institutions do not take sexual assault on children seriously. Most institutions want to brush this off under the carpet. This particular teacher has been abusing children and nobody in the school has ever got information about it."

She added that there is a big responsibility that the school and the management will have to take. They should also be booked under the Protection of Children form Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) as well as this person. Simple suspension is not enough. He needs to be jailed and the case has to go stringently and strongly against him.

Another activist Shamina Shafiq said that schools, where children come to gain knowledge, where parents save their income for their children's education, in such educational institutions their sexual abuse has to be interrogated by the government. Necessary actions have to be implemented in order to curb such incidents in future and if the government is unable to help in this matter then God knows how the society will survive.

A few years back in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, a similar incident came into light where a teacher was sexually abusing the children. Till date there is no report on what action has been taken against that teacher which is very unfortunate, Shafiq added.

A male teacher at government-aided residential school in Maharashtra's Beed district was on Monday booked by the police for allegedly forcing girl students to take bathe in the open and making sexual advances towards them at night.

The sexual abuse had been going on for past five months, but came to light only a few days ago when one of the victims took the courageous step of writing a letter to an advocacy group - Lek Ladki Abhiyan.