Kripali Samdariya, a well-known fashion model and an alumna of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB), Chennai, who first highlighted on Instagram the sexual harassment of students by G Rajagopalan, a teacher at PSBB, has urged students and alumni to report to the Tamil Nadu police any instances of abuse by Rajagopalan.

 

She took to Instagram on Tuesday, asking those students who had shared text messages with her about the teacher to speak to the police and assured that their identity will be kept anonymous. She also urged them to do so, failing which the movement would gather no momentum. 

 

The police have asked students who have been subjected to his harassment to come forward and lodge complains with DCP Jayalakshmi (who can be reached on her number 9444772222) and have promised anonymity. This came after Rajagopalan’s arrest early on Monday.  

 

The one letter with several signatories against this teacher in PSBB appeared to have triggered a chain of responses. Students from other branches of the same school and students from other private schools began citing instances of sexual harassment and molestation in schools. 

 

Kripali’s post had several other accounts of students who spoke about a music teacher from one of the schools molesting them. Some other screenshots of conversations with students includes recollection of horrifying childhood memories of being abused. 

 

One such victims also wrote that she was touched inappropriately by a teacher who was on invigilation duty during her class 5 exams and that she was very young to understand that amounted to sexual harassment and that she was afraid to complaint.