This Chennai School Teacher Has Been Accused Of Sexual Harassment By Several Students. The School Has Ignored Their Repeated Complaints

I have always believed that teaching is one of the noblest professions. When we are younger, our teachers are role models. They help shape our personalities and mould us into people with a passion and drive. But alas, if there is one thing I have learned in my short time as a journalist it’s that there are rotten apples on every tree. Nothing, not even a profession like teaching, is a hundred per cent pure. You see, a teacher at a prestigious school in Chennai has been accused of child abuse, sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by numerous students. If this isn’t horrific enough, the school and its authorities refuse to acknowledge the plight of these students despite repeated complaints. This has my blood boiling to a point of evaporation.

A teacher, Rajagopalan who teaches Accountancy and Business Studies at the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) in KK Nagar, Chennai, has been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by several students. After no action was taken by the school against this teacher, these students reached out to an alumnus of the school, Kripali. She posted their traumatic experiences on her Instagram handle.

According to reports, Rajagopalan has been at PSBB for over 20 years now. He has been accused of touching students inappropriately, passing comments about students bodies, asking a student out, coming to class without a shirt, conducting an online class with just a towel around his waist, sending pornographic links and slut-shaming students. This is a gross misuse of authority and power and it shouldn’t be tolerated. Over the years, batch after batch, numerous students have complained to the school authorities about him but no action was taken against him. It’s kind of ironic how a teacher, someone responsible for the safety and well-being of a student, indulges in perverted behaviour like this.

PSBB teacher accused of child sexual harassment, school accused of inaction #PSBB #childabusehttps://t.co/AjXxM7Mk1E

— TheNewsMinute (@thenewsminute) May 24, 2021

Also Read: Student Of Madras University Alleges Sexual Harassment By HoD, Claims He Said She Was ‘Powerless’

In the wake of these extremely serious allegations on Instagram, around 1000 alumni of the school have written to the management demanding action be taken against Rajagopalan. In their petition, they asked the school to immediately suspend the accused teacher and investigate the matter. They also demanded that he not be involved in any academic activities such as grading exams or conducting any evaluations until the investigation is completed. The petition also stated that that the child protection committee and the gender sensitivity committee of the school be immediately apprised and that an independent investigation be carried out.

The petition read, “Ensure that the identity of minors and school children are protected, and no adverse, penal, or retaliatory action is taken against them in any regard.”

However, trying its best to do damage control, the school completely denied having any prior knowledge about the allegations against Rajagopalan. The management issued a statement to the parents that read, “We would like to assure you that our school has zero tolerance towards any behaviour that adversely affects the physical, emotional and psychological well being of our students.” They claimed that they will take action on the basis of the social media posts.

Let’s me get something straight. This school, an institution responsible for a child’s safety, is only taking action against a teacher, who has sexually harassed dozens of students over the years, after a major social media scandal? Until then they just blatantly ignored the student’s complaints and are now not even acknowledging they knew about the serial predator on their campus. Their response to this matter is almost as disgusting as that teacher’s behaviour. Actually, no, nothing is that lecherous. Everything about this is sickening.

#Throwback to this nauseating chat of PSBB founder's son YG Mahendran and actor Sowcar Janaki dismissing the #MeToo movement.

They:
Women's trauma:Invalid
Abuse & harassment:Invalid
Gathering the courage to speak up:Invalid
Hoping the exposé will prevent further abuse:Invalid 🤦‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/2HWxMiuqfJ

— Smitha T K (@smitha_tk) May 24, 2021

Although, it’s not surprising that the PSBB school didn’t take action against a teacher who is sexually harassing students. You see, It was founded by Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy, popularly known as Mrs YGP and she has taken a very controversial stance about the #MeToo movement in the past. After these allegations against Rajagopalan blew up on social media, a video featuring Mrs YGP’s son, actor YG Mahendran, a trustee of the PSBB board, speaking to actor Sowcar Janaki, has been doing rounds online. They are discussing the #MeToo Movement. Sowcar Janaki is shaming women for speaking out against sexual harassment while YG Mahendran eggs her on and laughs approvingly at her disgusting comments.

In the video, Sowcar Janaki says, “MeToo is something which is bothering me. For cheap publicity, (women are speaking about) what happened years ago, what should have happened, what never happened and what you thought was okay back then, but didn’t pan out the way you thought it would. Is it really necessary?” She goes onto to say that it’s better if women just stay hidden from public view to which YG Mahendra says, “Aha, this is a fantastic thought,” in Tamil.

If a school is run by people with this shameful and utterly horrifying mindset, it’s no shocker that they haven’t taken action against a teacher who behaves in such an inappropriate manner. No student should have to go through this terrible ordeal. As glad as we are for the role social media played in bringing the truth to the fore and that the alumnus of the school has demanded reform and an investigation, we’re just hoping the school follows through and the accused teacher is fired and banned from teaching anywhere ever again. He needs to pay for his perverse actions and so does the school’s management for turning a blind eye for so long.

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