The Madras High Court recently dismissed a petition seeking to quash criminal charges against a school headmaster for failing to report an alleged case of sexual abuse at his school under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The case, Aathimoolam v. State and Another involved a headmaster from Coimbatore who was accused of neglecting his responsibility to inform the authorities about the abuse.
Justice P Velmurugan emphasized that the headmaster, as the guardian of the school, had a legal duty to immediately report incidents of sexual abuse to the District Child Protection Officer or the Police, as required under the POCSO Act. The Court found that the headmaster had not fulfilled this obligation when a student, then in 8th grade, was allegedly sexually abused.
In its ruling, the Court noted, “The Head Master is the guardian of the entire school. If any incident covered under the POCSO Act takes place, it must be immediately reported to the relevant authorities. In this case, the petitioner, who was the Head Master, failed to inform the authorities about the alleged sexual assault and did not take any action against the accused.”
The petition was filed by Aathimoolam, the headmaster of a school, who was charged under Section 21(2) of the POCSO Act for failing to report the crime. While initially not named in the FIR, the headmaster was included in the charge sheet after further investigation revealed his failure to report the abuse.
In his defence, the headmaster claimed he was unaware of the abuse during his tenure and that no complaints were made at the time. He also questioned the unexplained delay in filing the charge sheet, raising doubts about the prosecution’s credibility.
However, the Court rejected these arguments, stating that the headmaster’s failure to report the abuse was a clear violation of his legal responsibilities under the POCSO Act. The Court directed the police to submit a detailed report regarding the actions taken against the headmaster, including whether disciplinary proceedings were initiated by the Education Department.
The report is to be submitted to the Court by December 12, 2024, with a further hearing scheduled for December 26, 2024.
Advocate P Krishnamoorthy represented the petitioner, while Additional Public Prosecutor S. Sugendran appeared for the respondents.
