July 11, 2018:
Delhi Police has registered a case against a Private School in Central Delhi’s Hauz Qazi after some parents alleged that 16 girls, aged 4 and 5, were confined to “basement” of School on Monday for “non-payment” of monthly fees.
Parents alleged that the children were locked in the basement without food and water for nearly five hours. It was only when they came to collect their wards that the girls were rescued, the parents alleged.
However, in an interaction with a news channel, Principal denied the allegations that the girls were punished.
She stated that,“The basement is not a punishment place; it is an activity room where children play and learn music. It is a kind of classroom”.
A case under Indian Penal Code Section 342 (wrongful confinement) and Juvenile Justice Act section 75 (Cruelty to child) was registered at Hauz Qazi Police Station on Monday.
Parents of the girls stated that they had sent their children to the school at 7.30 am on Monday.
“ But when we arrived to pick our children, the teachers told us that they had been locked up in the basement as we hadn’t paid their fees for June. However, we had paid advance fees up to September".
Many Parents produced reciepts which they claimed were of fees that was already paid. A news channel showed some children crying in the “basement” where they were allegedly confined.
Principal claimed that the teachers wouldn’t have known even if the fees had been paid as a slip meant to be handed over to them hadn’t been received.
Principal stated that,“Each fee slip has a teacher’s slip attached to it. If that slip is not handed over to the teacher, how will they know that the fees have been paid,” the principal said.
Parents, however, contested this claim by saying that the date on which the teacher’s slip is to be handed over is the 11th of every month. “Why wasn’t a notice issued to us in the previous week?” a parents asked.
Source Hindustan Times
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