Bangalore: School headmaster in sex abuse net

Mtoday news / CNN-IBN

Bangalore, Jan 22: Trio World School prides itself on world standards and the best international exposure for its kids. But it is now in the news for the wrong reasons. Headmaster Paul Meekin - a UK citizen - was arrested on Sunday by the Bangalore police on charges of child abuse.

 

B Dayananda, Joint Commissioner, Bangalore East, said, "He has been charged under the IT Act and the Juvenile Justice Act. He has put some comments on the student’s Facebook page."

The sacked headmaster is now out on bail. But the school management is determined to get to the bottom of the problem. A statement from the school said, "The Management will not tolerate any such issues even if it is a mere allegation… to uphold the high standards maintained by the institution."

The name of the student is being kept under wraps to protect his identity as he is a minor, but police say the headmaster has got bail after being remanded to judicial custody.

His passport, however, has been seized. He cannot leave the country until the trial is over.

Incidentally, this is the same school that passed a rule two months back, saying that students have to add at least one of their teachers in their Facebook Friends List. Justifying the decision, the then headmaster Meekin had said that the school did not want to "intentionally interfere with their (the students’) lives... But the point is they are children and they tend to make mistakes."

While the police insist it is an isolated incident, it does raise questions about the quality of the faculty that international schools always boast about.