The headmistress of a government school in Coimbatore who was accused of using casteist slurs against students has been suspended by the district administration. According to Geetha, the education officer in-charge of Sarkar Samakulam area in Coimbatore, the parents of the students submitted a complaint last week. “Since there was TET exam in between, I had to work for that till Sunday. Yesterday I conducted an inquiry on the matter. It has been confirmed that headmistress Jayanthi beat students in the school and also used casteist abuses against them. Based on that, she has been suspended until further notice,” she told TNM.
Parents of students studying in CP Kandasamy Nagar primary school near Saravanampatti in Coimbatore district gave a petition to the district collector on Monday seeking action against the headmistress of the school. In the letter, they had alleged that Jayanthi, the headmistress, had beaten and scolded girl students in a vulgar language. The letter further mentioned that when the parents approached her asking her reason for the abuse, she allegedly told them to go and complain to anybody and that she was not afraid. According to the letter, the incident happened on June 17 in the school.
The complainants stated that the school was established in CP Kandasamy Nagar 28 years ago for the benefit of students from the SC community who lived in that area. “Such teachers wherever they get posted, they will teach students only with a casteist mindset. Hence please do not give her any other posting either,” the letter stated.
One of the relatives of a student who was abused by Jayanthi had told TNM on Monday that the headmistress allegedly made the students sweep the ground and clean toilets. He also alleged that when they approached the police, they had refused to register an FIR despite submitting proof. When TNM contacted the police station on Monday, a police officer had stated that the complainants were not responding to the police’s calls for an inquiry and hence the investigation is moving nowhere.