• Ploy to frame Head Master in POCSO case foiled
• Students deny sexual abuse, spill beans on conspiracy to nail Head Master

Mysuru: In a strange case of personal animosity, an alleged plot by fellow teachers to falsely implicate a Government school Head Master, who was on the verge of retirement, in a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) case has come to light in Mysuru taluk.

Ramashetty, Head Master of the Government School at Hanchya village, is the alleged victim of the plot. He was due to retire from service in a couple of months.

Ramashetty, 59, was accused of sexually abusing four minor girl students of the school on Friday morning. Soon, the parents of the four girls, accusing the Head Master of sexual abuse, lodged a complaint with District Child Protection Unit.

The complaint also reached the jurisdictional Mysuru South Police Station. Following the complaint, tension prevailed near the school as villagers gathered to question HM Ramashetty.

District Child Protection Officer P.S. Asha, along with Block Education Officer (BEO) Anantharaju and Mysuru South Police, rushed to the school and gathered preliminary information about the alleged incident. Later, the Child Protection Unit took the girls into its custody for counselling, while BEO Anantharaju suspended Ramashetty on the spot.

Instigation by teachers: During counselling, however, the 4 girls reportedly said that HM Ramashetty had neither harassed nor sexually abused them.

Instead, they said that school teachers Gopinath, Usha Kiran and Nagarathna had instigated them to lodge a complaint against the HM. The girls specifically named Gopinath as the person behind the complaint, according to M. Ravichandra of the Child Protection Committee. He also said that the report on the counselling of the four girls had been sent to the Police.

Speaking to SOM, BEO Anantharaju said that Ramashetty had been suspended following the allegations of sexual abuse. However, according to the counselling report sent by the Child Protection Committee, Ramashetty was innocent and it had also come to light that some teachers of the school had allegedly plotted to falsely implicate him in a POCSO case, taking advantage of the fact that the students were minors.

The matter will be discussed with DDPI Udaykumar and a decision on revoking Ramashetty’s suspension will be taken as per his directions, after the official receipt of the Child Rights Committee’s report, which has reportedly absolved the HM of the charges.

Meanwhile, Mysuru South Police Inspector Jayaprakash, who spoke to SOM last evening, confirmed that the Police had received a complaint alleging sexual abuse of four girl students.

However, according to the counselling report of the four girls sent by the District Child Rights Protection Committee, the HM was innocent and it had also come to light that three other teachers of the school had allegedly plotted to frame Ramashetty in a POCSO case. “The next course of action will be taken after consulting higher authorities,” he added.