After a preliminary investigation into the ‘forcible baptism’ of schoolchildren at the Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa, the principal of Guru Gobind Singh Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Jhunir, Sunita Taneja was suspended on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, a three-member committee set up by the district administration reached the campus and started an investigation. The team comprising district education officer (secondary) Harkanwaljit Kaur, the Sardulgarh SDM and the DSP met the principal.
“The principal of the school has been suspended by the Balaji Trust, the appointing authority, and an inquiry is in progress,” said Harkanwaljit. During the investigation, Taneja accepted that some dera followers had came to the school to mobilise children for the trip.
Taneja admitted that she was a dera follower and kept a dera photo in her office. Mansa deputy commissioner Chander Shekhar Talwar said it would take two weeks to complete the inquiry.
Meanwhile, the three-member SGPC committee has already compiled its report and has demanded strict action against the dera followers who mobilised schoolchildren for the trip.
Speaking to HT, SGPC committee chairman Mohan Singh Bangi said, “We met 17 students who went to the dera. They claimed that they were forcibly taken to Sirsa and made to drink a liquid called as Jaam-e-Insaan by dera followers.”
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to HT, SGPC committee chairman Mohan Singh Bangi said, “We met 17 students who went to the dera. They claimed that they were forcibly taken to Sirsa and made to drink a liquid called as Jaam-e-Insaan by dera followers.”
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