HC Rules School Officials Can Be Prosecuted For Failing To Report Student Assault
The Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru on Saturday ruled that an educational institution's failure to report the sexual assault of a child is a prosecutable crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Justice M Nagaprasanna rejected a petition filed by the headmaster, assistant headmaster, and warden of a residential school in Udupi district, refusing to quash a criminal case registered against them for failing to report the assault of a male student by his roommate on June 2.
The ruling establishes that any attempt by school authorities to suppress or cover up allegations of child sexual abuse is a punishable offense under the law, allowing the prosecution against the three school officials to proceed.
According to the court order, the male student was sexually assaulted by his roommate and classmate on June 2. Despite the victim reporting the violation to the school authorities, no action was taken. Instead, the administration projected the incident as a consensual act.
The victim stated that he informed the school's child welfare officer of the assault. However, the officer allegedly destroyed the victim's original letter and forced him to write a new one stating that no sexual offense had occurred and that the complaint was merely the result of a fight between the two boys.
The school authorities did not inform the victim's parents about the incident and threatened the student with dire consequences. On June 8, two boys handed over their mobile phones to the school authorities, and on June 10, the school took disciplinary action against the victim for hiding a mobile phone in the hostel.
It was at this point that the victim informed his father about the assault. The father subsequently filed a complaint at the local police station under Sections 4, 8, and 21 of the POCSO Act. The accused school officials then challenged the case in the High Court.
Justice Nagaprasanna observed that if the allegations are accepted, they depict something far graver than a mere omission to report. He stated that the legislative intent of the POCSO Act is preventive against institutional silence, and not just punitive towards the principal offender.
The court further remarked that failing to report such assaults is a betrayal of the confidence parents place in educational institutions. The court noted that suppressing or camouflaging allegations only emboldens perpetrators and deepens the trauma of the victim.
