Navi Mumbai School Teacher Accused Of Commenting On Girls’ Breasts And Touching His Students Inappropriately. Are We Safe Anywhere?
It is said that success and authority can be intoxicating. And sometimes, when given authority, it causes more harm than good. After the revelation of groups in Delhi and Kolkata that have been sharing nudes and sexually objectifying women, we’ve all been a little too aware of the sexual harassment women face. The kind that doesn’t classify as rape and more often gets dismissed as trivial. In fact, all sorts of people connected to you and the assailant try to dissuade you from making a complaint and brush it as something that’s a small mistake.
Recently, another incident of sexual misconduct came into light. According to a report by Mumbai Mirror, students of a CBSE school in Navi Mumbai have accused a male teacher of sexually harassing them for the past five years. Apparently, he has been harassing both male and female students on the school premises, making inappropriate remarks on girls’ bras and breasts and touching guys on their genitals.
A lot of students and ex-students came forward to discuss these incidents in an Instagram chat after which two alumni sent official complaints to the school. Mumbai Mirror claims to have 54 screenshots of these chats, though they haven’t released them yet. One of the complainants said the group consisted of 30 students who had something to share about the teacher’s inappropriate behaviour. They also said that other teachers were aware and indifferent to his behaviour.
One student revealed that he commented on the size of her breasts, “At times, he would point out my bra and chest, saying that it has grown a lot,” the text read. Another student said he made inappropriate comments on her bra, “I was waiting for a friend so that we could get back to class immediately. That is when he came, looked at my chest, and said, ‘Yeh kya kala-peela pehna hai?’(referring to her bra).” He has been accused of pointing to a girl’s pink bra and telling her to not wear such colours as they don’t look good. According to the allegations, this teacher clearly feels it’s appropriate to be so concerned about the bra and breast size of the young girls in the school. He finds it okay to stare right at their breasts. The teacher has also been accused of making girls uncomfortable by holding their waist, touching them with his lingering fingers, and always wanting to talk to them in private.
A guy also accused him of giving him a wedgie and even commenting on the colour of his underwear. A text message read that a boy was made to run naked in front of the drivers. Another text accused him of spanking her.
There were several texts that revealed that the girls were often told what to wear and slut-shamed if they spoke to boys. The culture in the school was deeply rooted in sexism and gave complete authority to the teachers to do as they please.
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The teacher, however, dismissed these allegations and told Mumbai Mirror that he had warned the girl’s family he’d file a complaint against her. “I sent the [girl’s] family a notice that I am filing a case. To scare them. I didn’t really want to do it, but the girl has crossed her limits,” He further added, “I must have said something by mistake. Just imagine that a girl is soaked in the rain and she is wearing a pink or dark-coloured bra. It looks bad. There are some things I do not like. I agree that I was wrong. I said sorry to her and she too apologised to me. But why are these allegations being made by the complainant now? It’s been years. Why did she not tell her parents then? They could have come to the school and would have confronted me then itself. If I were wrong, she could have slapped me.” And just like that, he brushed it aside as something so small. He didn’t comment on the other allegations that were made on him. In fact, he went on to say that there are several female students who would vouch for him to be decent.
Meanwhile, the school principal said, “They are anonymous letters, but I can’t take them lightly. I will present them to the committee, which will decide the next course of action. Our duty is to investigate properly. It is our duty to nurture children’s character and protect the dignity of the school. I am serious about this issue.”
If these allegations are true, it is sickening to imagine how a teacher can use his position of power to harass young boys and girls. But this is not rare; we’ve seen several cases of sexual harassment through the hands of a teacher and it just makes us think, even a school isn’t as safe as it claims to be.
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Earlier this year, a teacher was held for molesting at least 14 minor students over a period of two months. It was only after one of those students gathered the courage to speak to another teacher that the matter came into light. Such men use their power to take advantage of girls and women, who they think wouldn’t speak up against them. And even though, the school decided to install CCTV cameras after this incident, I wonder why these measures aren’t taken before the crimes happen.
