Hyderabad: The family of a 15-year-old schoolgirl, who was forced to strip, on allegations of cheating during a test, has reportedly been receiving calls from a man, pressurizing them to drop the case. The man has allegedly offered a bribe of Rupees 3 lakhs for the same.
Although the incident took place on September 23, 2021, it came to the limelight after the mother of the student spoke to TNM. The mother also filed a complaint with the police a day after the incident took place.
St Andrews School where the incident occurred has denied all connections with the man, Srikant Kumar Goud, who claimed to be a mediator on behalf of the school sent by a member of the school’s board. The man also claimed to be a Personal Assistant of Damodar Raju Narsimha, the Deputy Chief Minister during the Congress regime between 2011 and 2014 as reported by The News Minute.
The man, Srikanth Kumar Goud, first contacted the family in late November, posing as a policeman. He later claimed to be a police informer and then changed it to a ‘mediator’ on behalf of a school official, although the school has denied having any connection with him.
The family received the first call from Srikant on November 20, where he claimed that the school was willing to offer Rupees 3 lakhs to settle the case. The family reportedly turned down the offer saying that it was not a matter of money and added that they were well to do.
The man claimed that the school has apologized and had transferred the teacher. Whereas the school’s vice president, Jude David, has denied all claims of taking any action against a teacher who has been accused of degrading a student’s dignity and discriminating against her for belonging to a certain caste.
“I can confirm to you that a senior committee has been set up to inquire into the incident. And the report would be submitted within a week. Once the inquiry is complete and the report is submitted, the further course of action will be decided,” informed David.
No arrests have been made so far and formalities before filing a charge sheet are currently in process.
This story first appeared on siasat.com