08 November,2013 07:58 AM IST | | Sagar Rajput
Just a month after he had an FIR lodged against him for threatening to strip two female students and parade them naked, tainted PT teacher Manikchand Yadav has picked up where he left off. Having obtained anticipatory bail, he has allegedly returned to the Kurla-based school where he is faculty member, where he is delivering lectures as usual, in addition to threatening the two young girls who had filed a complaint against him.
The two teenagers have also alleged that the school authorities have offered them money to withdraw the case they had registered and retract their statements. MiD DAY had reported how Yadav verbally abused two Std VIII girls who did not want to run during a PT class (âPT teacher threatens to strip girls, parade them before boys at Mumbai school,' October 5).
According to the students, his words were: "If you throw a tantrum I will strip you down and parade you in front of boys." Speaking to MiD DAY, one of the Std VIII students said that since Yadav resumed his school routine after obtaining anticipatory bail, he has threatened them, saying, âTumko toh main baad main dekh loonga' (I will take you to task later).
The father of one of the girls later went to meet the principal, who, instead of initiating an enquiry against Yadav, has been putting pressure on them to withdraw the case. The families are now aware that the school is shielding and supporting the errant teacher instead of taking him to task for his actions.
The teenaged girl said, "The teacher has been roaming the school freely and has been coming to take lectures on a regular basis. After he threatened us, we went to the principal to report the incident to him, but he chose to ignore us. We didn't go to the principal again after that. On many occasions, the teacher has called some of my female classmates to a room to meet him, but they are so scared that they didn't dare go."
Appeal in court
Meanwhile, police officials have decided to appeal in court against the anticipatory bail granted to Yadav. Senior Police Inspector Suresh Bhavar from Nehru Nagar police station said, "We are going to appeal against the anticipatory bail given to the accused, as we didn't get him in police custody for a single day. We need to interrogate the matter thoroughly as such cases shouldn't be repeated. If we do not get justice in the lower court, we have planned to appeal in High Court."
According to the police, the accused was at Kurla station when he learnt that an FIR had been registered against him, and promptly absconded. When contacted, the principal of the school vehemently denied the allegations leveled against him regarding the money offered to the two young girls, saying: "Offering money is out of question. We have never done so." He added that a special committee has been formed by the trust to investigate the incident that took place in October.
He also insisted that the teacher has since been suspended by the trust and hasn't reported back to work. "He has been suspended, so how can he come to school and threaten the two survivors?" he asked, admitting that the PT teacher often uses âharsh' language.
The Other Side
Yadav denied that he ever threatened the two, saying, "In my 17 years of service, nobody has pointed at my character in such a way. My reputation has been spoilt because of these allegations. I have an 18-year-old daughter. How can I use such language on my student?" He added, "I did scold the two that day, as I had to give them marks on the basis of their performance. But I didn't use the language that they have complained about to the police."
October 1: Yadav took the students of Std VIII to the school grounds and asked them to run. When one of the girls said she couldn't run as her foot was injured, Yadav gave a shocking reply: "Zyada natak mat kar, nahin to kapde utar doonga"