K Prathipan was the principal of the Neredmet DAV Public School, and in charge of the Banjara Hills school where the child was assaulted.
The case has evoked widespread outrage, with even Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan demanding a report from the state government on it. (Creative Commons)
The DAV College Managing Committee — the non-governmental educational organisation that helps run hundreds of Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) schools, colleges, and even a university — terminated A Prathipan, the director of its Hyderabad-region schools on Friday, 21 October.
The move came a day after the director, identified as A Prathipan, was surrounded by irate parents who were demanding action in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a four-year-old student in a DAV school under his administration.
K Prathipan was the principal of the DAV Public School at Old Safilguda in the Neredmet area of Hyderabad. He was also in charge of the DAV school in the Banjara Hills area of the city, where the four-year-old was allegedly sexually assaulted for around three months by the driver of the principal of that school.
That driver, identified as 24-year-old Beemana Rajani Kumar, was arrested on Tuesday, the day the parents of the child filed a complaint at the Banjara Hills Police Station.
Based on this complaint, the police registered a case under Section 376 (AB) of the IPC and Section 5 read with Section 6, as well as Section 21 of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The principal of the school, identified as 55-year-old Sivaraju Madhavi, was initially let go on Tuesday. However, the police then started looking for her, and arrested her on Wednesday after she approached them.
She was booked under Section 21 of the POCSO Act, which deals with punishment for failure to report or record the case.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government has ordered the derecognition of the BSD DAV Public School, and the shifting of its students to nearby schools.
Parents of students of the BSD DAV Public School, where the incident was reported, have been protesting since the first day in demand of appropriate action in the case.
They took their agitation to Prathipan’s doorstep on Thursday, protesting outside his school. At one point, they even thrashed him.
The police told South First that they had to intervene and take him away from the spot.
Meanwhile, several parents told South First that they had been asking their own children if the driver had abused them.
The DAV College Managing Committee (DAVCMC) on Friday said that it had suspended Prathipan.
However, Hyderabad West Zone DCP Joel Davis confirmed to South First that Prathipan was not an accused in the case, and that this was just an action taken by the committee of its own volition.
Meanwhile, the DAVCMC told South First that it had put Madhavi under suspension. It added that it should support all legal action taken against her, and that her punishment should be the strictest of the strictest if she was found guilty.
Meanwhile, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was deeply distressed after learning about the case, according to sources from her office.
She reportedly expressed her dismay and deep anguish over the incident and called for immediate action against those who perpetrated the heinous crime.
She is also said to have sought a detailed report on this incident from the state government.
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