College principal faces arrest for casteist remarks

The complainant, according to the police, is a student of Government College of Education and belongs to the Warli tribe

Mumbai The 27-year-old principal of the Government College of Education in Mumbai will have to face arrest for insulting a student belonging to a scheduled tribe in the classroom, as the sessions court rejected her anticipatory bail plea observing that her remarks were meant to insult the student in public.

The principal purportedly told him that tomorrow when he becomes a teacher, whether he will be delivering lectures to students in “your” Adivasi language (HT File)

The complainant, according to the police, is a student of Government College of Education and belongs to the Warli tribe.

According to the prosecution, on July 24, when the class was in progress, the principal of the college Urmila Atul Paralikar visited the class and passed remarks over the complainant’s handwriting. She asked, “Whether she is Adivasi, whether teachers at her village deliver lectures in this fashion?”

The principal purportedly told him that tomorrow when he becomes a teacher, whether he will be delivering lectures to students in “your” Adivasi language.

The complainant claimed that this was humiliating and certain other students from the class room were also humiliated in a similar manner on the basis of their caste lines in front of the entire classroom.

It is further the case of prosecution that the applicant sent link of “masturbation is healthy, sex before marriage is unhealthy” to humiliate the students studying in first and second year of the BEd course. It was claimed that the students were rated based on the said survey pertaining to the link and the students who scored less were called by the principal for explanation.

In another instance, the complainant claimed that on August 4, 2022, the complainant along with her friends visited the cabin of the applicant requesting her to change the uniform from jeans to leggings and kurti. However, the applicant/accused refused to do so and also passed some embarrassing comments about the complainant.

The principal in her defence claimed that “it was mere conversation between the teacher and a student in order to bring discipline. The allegations of providing a link for sex education was part of education curriculum for sex education for boys and girls known as psychological counselling.”

However, the court noted that the remark was in the classroom and in the presence of other students. Thus, the same remark is in public view. The words of remark clearly show that they were used intentionally to humiliate the informant, she being the member of the Scheduled Tribe (ST).