Tamil Nadu Schools Directed To Install Complaint Boxes To File Sexual Harassment Cases

A letter from the school education department said the court observed that the female students were deterred from filing sexual abuse complaints against teachers or school managements

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Chennai: Tamil Nadu school education department has directed all the schools to install complaint boxes in their premises to receive sexual harassment complaints from girl students. The move comes following the recommendations of the Madras High court. 

According to a Times of India report, a letter from K Jeyalalitha, deputy secretary of the school education department, to the commissioner of the school education said that the court observed that the female students were deterred from filing sexual abuse complaints against teachers or school managements and the observation was made while sentencing a pastor to five years of imprisonment under POCSO Act for sexually harassing a minor girl in 2019. 

The court further recommended the state government to form a committee consisting of the district social welfare officer, secretary of the district legal services authority, a women police officer below the rank of superintendent of police, district educational officer, a woman psychiatrist, and physician from a government hospital, the letter said, as per the report.  

Quoting the letter, the report said that the court also directed the educational institutions to install a complaint box to receive sexual harassment complaints and the key of the box should be kept under the control of the secretary, district legal services authority. 

The complaints should be read by the district legal services authority and district social welfare officer, once a week for initiating queries and if it reveals any sexual offence, it should be forwarded to the concerned police station, the letter said, according to the report.