Chennai School Principal Arrested On Charges Of Sexually Abusing 11-Year-Old Girl
 Chennai School Principal Arrested On Charges Of Sexually Abusing 11-Year-Old GirlPeople participate in a candle protest at Parel for Kopardi rape and murder case. (Satyabrata Tripathy/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Chennai police have arrested G Jayapaul, the principal of Montfort School in Perugudi, for sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl. The issue came to light after the girl refused to go to school for nearly two months. The girl revealed what had happened after her parents questioned her for the long absence from the school.

The parents then approached the local police station at Thoraipakkam with a complaint against Jayapaul, but the Inspector refused to register it. They then went to the all-women police station at Guindy, 10 km away from Perugudi, where too the officials refused to accept the complaint.

Enraged over the police attitude, the parents then gathered in front of the school with their relatives and staged a blockade. Following this, police accepted their complaint and took the principal to the police station for inquiry. After completion of the inquiry during which he confessed to committing the abuse, Jayapaul was arrested on Friday (2 March).

The Hindu, quoting the local police, reported that 44-year-old Jayapaul had faced similar charges earlier while working in a private school. The principal reportedly regretted the incident and sought apology, reported Tamil media. However, parents of the victims were unwilling to forgive him. Videos on the social media showed a woman touching a police officer’s feet, asking him to bring the principal to them so that they could beat him up. Police, however, refused to accede to the request.

The protest also led to the parents of another girl alleging that Jayapaul’s sexual harassment led to their daughter committing suicide six months ago. The girl, who had scored over 97 per cent in her high school exams, was touched inappropriately by the principal when she went to get his blessing after scoring high marks.

A few months later, the girl was not her usual self and suddenly committed suicide, alleged the grandmother of the girl.

The Montford School is administered by the Society of Brothers of St Gabriel.

An Appeal...

Dear Reader,

As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.

Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.

We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.

Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.

Become A Patron
Become A Subscriber
Advertisement