Odisha school allegedly locks up students in library over fee payment; FIR lodged

The Bhubaneswar police on Tuesday charged the chief executive officer (CEO), vice-principal and administrative manager of the Apeejay School in the city for wrongful confinement and cruelty a day after the school authorities allegedly locked up students in the library over non-payment of tuition fees, officials said.

Police registered a case under Sections 342 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act against the officials after the parents alleged that 34 students were locked up inside the library for five hours .

In their complaint before the police, the parents of the 34 students of the school between Class 3 and 9 alleged that their wards were detained in a room between 9.30am and 2.30pm by their respective class teachers.

A parent, whose son studies in Class 5 in the Apeejay school, said his son seemed to be depressed when he came back from the school on Monday afternoon.

“When I asked him about it, he said his school teachers herded him and 33 other students of the school into a room after they wrote an exam. The fan was switched off and my son and other students had to sit in that room without knowing the reason of their detention. I stay just 100 metre away from the school. They could have told me over phone. Though I paid the fees in the evening, I am not going to take the detention of my son lying down as it was a criminal offence,” the parent said.

Another parent, whose daughter studies in Class 4 of the school, said he had received an e-mail on 15th about payment of dues. “She had no idea why she was detained. It was only after she came back from school that I got to know about the detention. Whatever happened was wrong and we will knock the doors of all available forums against the act,” he added.

The father of a student, who studies in Class 9, said he was paying the dues on Monday in the school when his son got detained. “I did not know that he was kept confined in the room. When I got my son admitted in the school, there was nothing in the prospectus which spoke of such punishments. I would never have got my child admitted to such a school. Now I can’t even take him out and get him admitted to some other school as the Class 10 board exam is just a year away. He seemed to be very upset over whatever happened yesterday,” he said.

He added that the school authorities gave a notice in the hands of the students asking them to pay up the fees. “This is simply not done. When you have tortured the students, why are you sending notice,” he said.

The mother of a student said while the school has 900 students on its rolls, it is surprising how the school authorities resorted to such high-handedness over alleged non-payment of just 30-odd students. “During Covid, the school did not reduce tuition fees unlike several other private schools in Odisha. From this session, they increased the fees by 15 per cent, which is a bit high,” she added.

The parents of some other students alleged that their wards were not allowed to even attend to nature’s call during the 5-hour detention.

Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner of police, Prateek Singh said the cops have recorded the statements of the parents. “The CCTV footage of the school for the date of occurrence will be checked. The other parents whose wards were victimised will be examined. The statement of the librarian and other teachers will be recorded. The administrative manager and vice-principal have been questioned,” he said.

Condemning the incident, Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Sandhyabati Pradhan said, “This is a horrendous crime. The Commission will probe the matter if a complaint is filed in this regard. If the school authorities are found guilty, stringent action will be taken against them.”