School principal alleges sexual harassment, resigns
Times of India | 16 June 2024
Kolkata: The principal at a reputable English-medium school in Dum Dum has resigned on the grounds of sexual harassment by the school secretary and the bishop’s alleged silence on it when she reported the matter to him verbally. But the secretary denied the allegation.
In the resignation letter, the principal cited sexual harassment by the school secretary and the school management’s inaction as reasons for her decision.“I was sexually harassed in the secretary’s office by the secretary on Jan 9 between 6.55 pm and 7.45 pm. Though I reported the matter immediately to the rector and to the president of the managing committee, they flatly refused to go through the CCTV footage of that day. No enquiry has been conducted... and I have been strictly instructed by the Bishop not to speak about the secretary’s gross misconduct to any teaching and non-teaching staff member of the school,” read the principal’s letter. She said she did not have access to the monitoring room and the CCTV footage could be retrieved only with the secretary’s permission as the assault took place in his room. She further wrote after she reported against the secretary, he “unleashed other ways of harassing me... .” The secretary, she claimed, coerced teaching and non-teaching staff to sign a petition, citing her “bad behaviour”. “Whenever I tried to exert my decision, I faced opposition from the secretary,” she said.
The school secretary said, “It came as a surprise that such a serious allegation has been brought against me. She could have approached the school’s internal complaints committee (ICC) or the legal person for proper investigation. Why did it take her months to come up with the allegations publicly.”
Bishop of Barrackpore Diocese Rt Rev Subrata Chakraborty confirmed the principal made a verbal complaint on Jan 9. He said he called up both sides to solve the issue. “We accepted her resignation on June 12. But we told her she could still approach the ICC with her complaints. This shows her claim about my silence is not true. Also, an inquiry was set up against the principal as we received complaints against her,” said Chakraborty, also the president of the school managing committee. “It was decided on June 9 that she would be released from her duty. The news leaked and she resigned on June 11 before we could release her.”