Shahjahanpur, May 16 Majority of the girls in an Uttar Pradesh government school a teacher has been arrested for sexually assaulting 15 students, have stopped coming for classes after the incident.
The attendance in the school in Shahjahanpur's Dadraul block, has dropped below 35 per cent, sources said.
It has been found that the accused computer instructor Mohammad Ali, had been sexually assaulting minor girls in the school.
A number of used condoms were found in the school toilet.
After the matter came to light on May 13, angry villagers created a ruckus.
The protesting parents said that the sexual assault would have gone on had their girls not opened up.
Taking cognisance of the horrific crime, police action was initiated on the complaint of the gram pradhan.
The accused has been arrested and headmaster Anil Kumar, and assistant teacher Sajia have been booked in this connection.
Speaking on the incident, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Kumar Gaurav said: "Of the 112 students, including 50 girls, only 35 per cent of the students turned up on Monday. This is obviously because both parents and students, particularly girls, are scared to come to the school after what happened with those 13 girls.
"The department will ensure counselling of students and parents because unless we are able to rebuild confidence among them, the student turnout will not improve. We will have to sensitise our teachers too. Simultaneously, we are trying to address the issue and strong action will be taken against the guilty."
On a similar vein, gram pradhan Rampal said: "The incident has dented the confidence of parents. We all consider educational institutions to be a safe place for students but unfortunately, a few teachers have brought shame to the school and hence, parents are reluctant to send their wards."
A parent said: "Some of the girls who went through this horrible incident are reluctant to come to the school anytime soon. The misconduct of the teacher has left them scarred. It will take some time for them to overcome."
Meanwhile, Director-General, school education, Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Kiran Anand, said: "To check such incidents, all 746 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in Uttar Pradesh will soon have an all-women staff. Contracts of all existing male staff working in these schools functioning in all 75 districts of the state will not be renewed. He said this step had been taken for the safety of girl students studying in these residential schools offering residential education from classes 6 to 8."
State minister Baldev Singh Aulakh has also assured strict action against the accused in the case.
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