Police action in Gurdaspur is 'witch-hunt', says Punjab private school management body

Mohali (Punjab) [India], April 12 : Lending support to a strike called by private schools all across Punjab on Monday, the Mohali Private Unaided Schools' Association (MPUSA) while taking up the issue of a "witch-hunt" against private school managements has demanded to draft a comprehensive policy on the safety of school students in Punjab.
MPUSA comprises as many as 80 private schools spread across the Mohali district of Punjab.
The strike was the result of some arrests made in the case of sexual assault on a girl student of a private school in the Gurdaspur district.
MPUSA informed that the association condemned the heinous incident and said that it stood by the family of the girl who had been sexually exploited. However, what it was against is the way police arrested the school's 70-year-old Chairman and also the Principal.
"The arrests by police seem to have been made to appease protesting parents and under political pressure. This was done without proper investigation and evidence. Nowhere in any preliminary investigation did it come that the school management was in any way responsible for the incident," said MPUSA President Mitul Dikshit.
Dikshit further said that MPUSA abides by the responsibility of taking care of the safety of children and staff within the school campus, there can be no compromise on the safety of children within the school premises.
"However, we are against the victimization of the staff of the school when no evidence of culpability has been found by the police administration even after an investigation," he added.
While demanding a comprehensive policy on the safety of school students, framed by the state government, MPUSA said, "The school management and principal earn their reputation over decades and we demand that the pious relationship between students, parents and staff are not damaged by unproven allegations."
"We want to bring in front of you the fact that these days there is a trend of witch hunt adopted by administrations and police against the school management, principals and staff, particularly of private schools. This is being done without verification of facts and proper investigation by authorities," MPUSA Vice President Sanjay Kumar said.
Meanwhile, MPUSA Secretary Col SPS Cheema (Retd) said that MPUSA supports a detailed investigation and punishment of the person who has actually committed this abominable crime. "It is against arrests made on the basis of hearsay," he said.
MPUSA has demanded that no action should be taken against the staff of the school till evidence emerges.
"We also want that action should be taken even against the government school principals when incidents of such nature are committed on premises of the government schools. Why are only private schools targeted?" MPUSA Treasurer Sandeep Gupta said.