Complaints of sexual assault in schools continue coming in

Police say the accused will be arrested after victims’ statements are recorded

June 01, 2021 01:47 am | Updated 01:47 am IST - CHENNAI

The police have received over 78 complaints on sexual harassment meted out to young women and minor girls at schools in the city and other places over the last one week, following allegations of sexual harassment that were circulated over social media and the subsequent arrest of G. Rajagopalan, a teacher of a private school on May 24.

The allegations of sexual harassment that went viral last week was shared by former students of the school. Acting on those, the All-Women Police, Ashok Nagar, picked up Rajagopalan for an inquiry and asked people to come forward to lodge a complaint. Only after someone came forward and lodged a complaint, did the police arrest him. He was remanded in judicial custody the next day.

The police have shared the phone number of H. Jayalakshmi, Deputy Commissioner, Crime Against Women And Children (CAWC), and appealed to the affected parties to come forward and report their complaints to 9444772222. The identities of the informants and victims would be kept anonymous, the police said.

Sources said, “So far, the special wing has received 78 complaints from young women who are either alumni or students at various schools. Over 25 complaints are about city schools or other institutions. We have sent the remaining complaints to the respective Superintendents of Police/Deputy Commissioner for further action. Whatever complaints were received are being thoroughly investigated and the accused will be arrested after recording the statements of the victims. All procedures stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code and other guidelines are being followed.” Until Monday, five persons lodged complaints against Rajagopalan, who was arrested last week, and two complaints were filed against E. Kebi Raj, a martial arts instructor, who worked in a school and runs a training institute.

Nine more complaints were lodged against P. Nagarajan, an athletics coach, who was arrested for sexually harassing trainees.

“One more complaint was received about sexual harassment in a school functioning on the outskirts of the city and it is being looked into to find out the veracity. We will not spare any perpetrator,” a senior police officer said.

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