Child Safety

Raghavendra H Auradkar addressing the press on July 20, 2014. Pic: Nikita Malusare “This guy arrested today for the horrific [alleged] rape of the six year old has taught hundreds of kids in this area according to the word around these parts. He used to come to our apartment and teach kids two days a week or so!” wrote Whitefield area resident and civic activist Sanjay Vijayaraghavan on Facebook on Sunday night. Shobha Belakerappa, an IT professional, had similar emotions: “My son was being coached by the same instructor as part of regular SPA activity, as well as summer camp…

Heroes are those who rise when they fall, choose to fight back a wrong or injustice instead of accepting it. When the Vibgyor High school in Marathahalli, Bengaluru, ran into controversy because of the alleged rape of a student, the way the parents of the school children were united in their fight against the inefficient system that could not protect a child is an example to follow. They made use of online groups to unite together for the cause and bring home one single point - no more threat to security of kids. They framed a set of questions and…

School might lose its recognition if the ISCE board considers the State government's request. Pic: Nikita Malusare The already-battered parents of Vibgyor High school students in Marathahalli, Bengaluru, were in for a rude shock on July 18, 2014, Friday late evening. In the backdrop of widespread criticism in the media, the Department of Public Instruction, Karnataka, wrote to ICSE board, requesting that the recognition given to Vibgyor High school in Marathahalli, be withdrawn. A press release from Commissioner for Public Instruction, Mohammad Mohsin, stated: “The Department has viewed seriously on a sexual assault on a child studying in that [Vibgyor]…

Parents protesting on Vibgyor High premises in Marathahalli on Thursday. Pic:Nikita Malusare Sending a child to school just isn’t the same any more. The latest incident that reinforces this unfortunate truth is what happened at the Marathahalli branch of Vibgyor High School, one of the more reputed private schools in the city, catering largely to educated upper middle class parents, many of them migrants to the city. On 2 July, a child studying in the first grade was punished with ‘isolation’ in another room of the same school, during which two men, at least one among them reportedly being a…