Chennai, Jun 2 (IANS): As many as 22 former students of Kendriya Vidyalaya located on the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) campus in Chennai have accused their former Hindi teacher of sexual abuse over a period of 18 years.

The group of former students recently wrote a letter to the school principal, alleging that a language teacher had sexually abused them while they were students in the school.

Asking for immediate suspension of the teacher, the ex-students said, "Now that the school has been made aware of the child sexual abuse allegations against the teacher, the school is legally bound to inform the police about the same as per the Protection of Children against Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012 as even an apprehension that an offense under the Act may have been committed ought to be reported."

The ex-students have sent copies of the letter to the Tamil Nadu Childline, the CBSE, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Saraswati Rangaswami, Chairman, Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights, told IAN, "We have received the complaints about the teacher in email and we will be investigating the matter. Summons will be issued to the school soon."

Meanwhile, the Kendriya Vidyalaya on the CLRI campus has constituted a three-member committee to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegations against the teacher.

The panel comprises two teachers from the school and one external member, J. Raghava Rao, Chief Scientist, CLRI, who is also the management committee member of the KV CLRI. The committee will conduct a detailed inquiry and then submit a report.

One of the complainants in the letter addressed to the principal said that the teacher had sexually misbehaved with her on many occasions.

"On one particular occasion, he had grabbed my buttocks in the middle of a class when I went to distribute chocolates for my birthday. This was witnessed by a friend of mine who was with me," the complainant said.

After she shared the alleged incident on social media, many former students of the school reached out to her, alleging that they were also subjected to sexual misbehavior on several occasions.

"A girl student was made to sit next to him during tuition class and he touched her inappropriately," an alumnus said, adding that ultimately the student decided to change her second language to distance herself from the concerned teacher.

V. Ramaprasad, Principal of KV CLRI, told IANS, "I am not the competent authority to suspend the accused teacher and a three-member committee is constituted for the same."

However, there are allegations that the KV management is trying to protect the teacher by delaying the inquiry citing the lockdown.

The school is insisting that the complainants should be present physically before the inquiry committee and has given June 2 as the date for attending the inquiry, knowing fully well that a lockdown is in place in Tamil Nadu to check the spread of the Covid pandemic.

"Several current students may be victims of the faculty member and may be fearful of complaining about his conduct or coming up with a complaint or testifying as a witness as he is still in a position of authority," the complaint letter said.