'Absenteeism not your fault': Supreme Court to girl students after 'free sanitary napkin' verdict

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said, its pronouncement on providing free sanitary napkins to girl students must travel beyond the courtroom, law review reports, and reach the everyday conscience of society at large.

"We wish to communicate to every girl child, who might have become a victim of absenteeism because her body was perceived as a burden, that the fault is not hers,'' a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said.

The court explained its judgement is not just for the stakeholders of the legal system, it is also meant to be for the classroom where girls hesitate to ask for help.

"It is for the teachers who want to help but are restrained due to lack of resources, and it is for the parents who may not realise the impact of their silence, and for the society to establish that progress is measured how we protect the most vulnerable,'' the bench said.

The bench started its judgment on the PIL filed by Jaya Thakur, saying, "A period should end a sentence – not a girl’s education'. We are tempted to preface our judgment with the words of Melissa Berton, an American educator, social activist, and producer".

The issues that have unfolded echoed the very same judicial disquiet. Even with the passage of time, the challenges that beset a girl child’s education persist in much the same form, it noted.