Girls made to strip for menstruation check: Thane school principal, another staffer arrested
Thane (PTI): Police have arrested the principal and another staffer of a private school in Thane where girl students were allegedly made to strip to check if they were menstruating, officials said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at the school in Shahapur area of Maharashtra's Thane district on Tuesday after bloodstains were found in its toilet, they said.
It sparked an outrage among the girls' parents, who protested on the school premises on Wednesday and sought action against its management and teachers involved in the episode.
The police on Wednesday night arrested the school's principal, and a woman attendant who allegedly stripped the students and checked their private parts for menstruation, an official from Shahapur police station said.
As per the complaint lodged by a parent of one of the students, the girls, studying in classes 5 to10, were called to the school's convention hall and shown photos of blood stains in the toilet and floor by screening them through a projector.
The students were asked if anyone from them was going through the menstrual cycle.
The girls were then divided into two groups. All those who said they were menstruating were asked to give their thumb impression to the teachers. But those girls who said they were not experiencing it, were taken to the toilet one by one with a woman attendant checking their private parts, the complaint said.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered on Wednesday against the school's principal, four teachers, the attendant and two trustees, the police said.
When parents learnt about the girls being subjected to this kind of a check, they gathered at the school and demanded action against the teachers involved, Additional Superintendent of Police (Thane rural) Rahul Zalte said on Wednesday.
"The situation turned tense for a while with the irate parents demanding action," he said.
The police were probing the entire incident, the official said.
The case was registered against the eight persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 76 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
