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Schools must report child sexual abuse cases: Police
Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Thursday said that school authorities that delay in reporting issues of sexual harassment of children on premises will face legal action
Pune: Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Thursday said that school authorities that delay in reporting issues of sexual harassment of children on premises will face legal action.
“We will also register cases against police personnel as co-accused if they neglect complaints regarding children and do not file complaints,” he said.
The police chief was speaking at a programme organised by Pune police, Pune zilla parishad (ZP) education wing, regional transport Office (RTO) and other government agencies at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate on Thursday morning. Joint police commissioner Ranjan Kumar Sharma, regional transport officer Archana Gaikwad, state director of school education (secondary and higher secondary) Sampat Suryavanshi and representatives of various schools were present.
“There are 12,000 schools in the city with 11 lakh students. One of the major concerns is how students travel in autorickshaws. Autos can carry only five children with bags and water bottles, as per the RTO rules. Hence, schools should alert RTO if autos carry more than the permissible number of schoolchildren. Parents must not allow children to travel in crowded vehicles,” Kumar said.
Gaikwad said, “Schools can alert us if any student is indulging in underage driving.”
The police and state education department officials asked schools to install CCTV cameras and put up complaint drop boxes on campus, besides carrying out character verifications of Class IV and other employees.
The top cop said that schools must alert about any paan or cigarette stall within 100 metres from campus for the police to take action.
