Kerala’s Education Minister, V Sivankutty, on Tuesday, June 3, ordered an urgent report after a vlogger facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) was invited as the chief guest at the reopening ceremony of a government-aided school. The vlogger, Mukesh M Nair, was invited by Fort High School in Thiruvananthapuram for the event held on the morning of June 2.
Mukesh was arrested by the Kovalam police in April following a complaint from the parents of a 15-year-old girl. They alleged that he touched their daughter inappropriately, without her consent, and coerced her into filming social media reels at a resort in Kovalam. He is listed as the first accused in the case, while a coordinator who brought the girl to him for filming is the second accused. Mukesh was later granted a conditional bail by the POCSO court.
At the school reopening event, Mukesh distributed gifts to students who had scored high marks in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination.
The Headmaster of Fort High School later told the media that he was unaware of Mukesh’s arrival halfway through the programme, and that the school only officially invited the ward councilor as their guest. “Mukesh was invited by Junior Chamber International (JCI), an organisation that collaborates with the school annually. We had no prior knowledge that they had extended an invitation to him,” he said.
However, a poster promoting the event, which had been circulated prior to the function, featured Mukesh’s photo alongside other invited guests, raising further questions about the school’s claims.