The students of a government-run tribal residential school for girls in Sircilla town, Telangana, staged a protest against the school's Physical Education Teacher (PET), Jyotsna, on Thursday for allegedly harassing and filming them while they were bathing. The protest took place on the Sircilla-Siddipet main road, where the students raised slogans demanding the teacher's suspension.
The students accused the PET of forcibly breaking into the bathroom, beating up a girl while she was taking a bath and recording a video of the incident, according to a report on IANS. According to one of the protesters, the incident occurred when a student, who was menstruating, had taken permission from the teachers to go to the dormitory and take a bath during play hour. Infuriated by this, the PET allegedly barged into the bathroom, assaulted the girl, and recorded the video.
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The students further alleged that Jyotsna had been subjecting them to ongoing physical and mental harassment. They claimed that she often beat them, forced them to do squats and other physical exercises as punishment, and even invaded their privacy by reading their personal diaries. One of the students questioned whether such behavior was fitting for a teacher.
The protest involved over 100 students, who also complained about inadequate bathroom facilities in the residential school. While they said they had been managing despite these shortcomings, they felt compelled to protest against the teacher's alleged misbehavior. The protesters demanded Jyotsna's immediate suspension and called for her to be barred from teaching anywhere, arguing that she was unfit for the profession.
The students showed video evidence of the incident to the officials. Mandal Education Officer Raghupati assured them that Jyotsna would be relieved of her duties, which prompted the students to call off the protest.