Students made to clean soak pit by staff at Karnataka school; principal among two arrested

The incident has taken place at the Morarji Desai residential school in Malur taluk of Kolar district. The incident came to light after a video showed students inside a soak pit of the school and cleaning it as teachers looked on. Soon, a team of administration including Social Welfare Department Joint Director R Srinivas and Assistant Director Shivakumar visited the school and on their complaint, the principal and two teachers were suspended even as the principal along with another teacher was arrested by the police.

Kolar (Karnataka): In a shocking case of caste based discrimination at an educational institution, staff at the Morarji Desai school in Karnataka's Kolar district deployed SC students to clean the soak pit without even a safety gear putting their lives at risk. The authorities have suspended the principal and two teachers while three contract employees have been dismissed over the incident.

The incident is said to have taken place at the school in Malur taluk of Kolar district on Saturday and came to light after a video went viral showing many students cleaning the soak pit inside the school premises. As soon as the video surfaced, police swung into action and booked the principal and the two accused teachers under the relevant provisions of the SC/ST Act.

The principal of the school identified as Bharathamma and one accused teacher Muniyappa were arrested by the Masti police on Sunday while searches are on for the other accused. An official said that action has been taken based on the complaint filed by Social Welfare Department Joint Director R Srinivas and Assistant Director Shivakumar who visited the school after the incident came to light.

He said that two separate FIRs have been registered in this regard. The first FIR was registered in connection with the cleaning of the soak pit by children, and accordingly, the principal of the school has been arrested. The other case has been registered under the POCSO Act and a teacher has been arrested in the case, added the official.

Union Minister, BJP leaders visit school: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayanaswamy visited the residential school in connection with the case. He was accompanied by MP S Muniswami along with CEO Padma Basantappa. The Union Minister went to the residential school and also examined the soak pit which the children had been asked to clean by the staff.

The Minister passed strict instructions to the officers on the occasion.BJP state president B Y Vijayendra has condemned the incident. The state BJP chief has formed a fact finding committee in this regard. BJP leaders N Ravikumar, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Bharati Shetty, Women Morcha state president Geeta Vivekananda, former president of Women's Commission Pramila Naidu visited the scene and inspected the spot on Monday.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader R Ashok too visited the school in this regard.