JOIN USFounder of Tamil Nadu school arrested under POCSO
Hours after a renowned school’s founder and self-proclaimed spiritual leader Siva Shankar Baba was arrested under POCSO Act, the Chengalpattu District Child Welfare Committee on Wednesday recommended that the government cancel the institution's recognition and take it over.
Siva Shankar Baba, who owns a popular residential school in Kelambakkam on the outskirts of Chennai, was arrested from the National Capital Region (NCR) for sexually harassing students of the institution. A special team from the CB-CID wing of Tamil Nadu police recorded the arrest and is on the way to Chennai to produce Baba before a court.
The police had earlier this week booked Baba under the POCSO Act and other sections of the IPC following complaints from several former students who accused him of sexual assault and harassment.
The students had alleged that Baba forced them to dance with him during cultural events, and accused teachers of shielding him.
The special team went to Dehradun in Uttarakhand acting on an input that Baba was admitted to a private hospital. However, he is understood to have escaped from there and was hiding in the National Capital Region from where he was taken into custody.
The District Child Welfare Committee, in its letter to School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, asked him to ensure that alternate arrangements are made to provide admission to students who leave from the said school, following allegations.
“Since the school’s founder, Siva Shankar Baba acted against the interests of girl students who have accused him of sexual harassment, we recommend that the School Education Department cancel the school’s recognition. We also call upon the department to take over the school and run it,” the DCWC said in its letter.
The recommendation by the government body assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of girl students of various schools in Tamil Nadu accusing their teachers and school management of sexually harassing them. Teachers of two prominent schools in the state are already in prison after being booked under the POCSO Act.