Patiala, August 4: The Education Department has suspended a school principal following the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against her by a 17-year-old student of her school.
The student has alleged that the principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Mardanpur, near Ghanour, Dr Adarsh Bhalla, had been forcing him to have physical relations with her. He alleged that she would not allow him to stay in his class and instead ask him to sit in her room. He also claimed that she would ask him to accompany her to her house and stay overnight.
The matter came to the fore after the principal struck off the student’s name from the school and his parents, backed by villagers, pressured her to readmit him.
A probe was conducted by Nishi Jalota, Circle Education Officer. Speaking to The Tribune, Jalota said the principal had been found guilty and she had sent the report to the higher authorities for necessary action.
As per reports, this is not the first time that such allegations have been levelled against her. A similar complaint came to the fore last year, too, when another boy accused her of sexual harassment. The matter had even reached the then Education Minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, but it was suppressed following “political pressure”. A video of the principal dancing with that boy had also gone viral.
While the principal could not be contacted, a schoolteacher requesting anonymity said the principal used to keep the boy in her room all through the day and no one could question her because of her authoritarian attitude.
The accused’s husband, meanwhile, denied the allegations, claiming that it was a conspiracy against her and the truth would come out soon.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
