Dad comes late, school detains 3-yr-old for hour

DURGAPUR: The father of a nursery student has lodged a police complaint against the principal of his son's school in Durgapur for allegedly detaining the child for an hour after school hours on Friday afternoon.
Goutam Das alleges that Aditi Ghosh, the principal of Arabinda Vidyamandir -where his three-and-a-half-year-old son, Tanmoy, is a student -detained him because he was a few minutes late in picking him up after school gave over.
Goutam told TOI that he drops off and picks up Tanmoy each day on his motorcycle. The school starts at 7am and gives over at 11.45am. On Friday, Goutam reached his son's school at 11.55am, as he had to stop on the way at a petrol station to refuel his bike.
"When I reached school at 11.55am, the guard at the main gate told me that the school was closed. When I said I wanted to pick up my son, he told me that Tanmoy had been punished for an hour because of my delay, adding that this was a ‘standard punishment' at the school. I waited for an hour outside the gate and my son was released only at 1pm," Goutam said.
He added that his son fell ill as he had to stay without food for a long period. Tanmoy also developed a phobia of the school. "He is steady after I took him to a local doctor. But I have decided not to send him to school. This is not the first such complaint against this school," Goutam alleged.
Goutam lodged an FIR against the principal with Durgapur police on Saturday. Durgapur OC Syed Rezaul Kabir confirmed the FIR and that an investigation has been started.
Ghosh refused to comment. However, school committee secretary Suhas Bhattacharyya defended the principal, saying that all parents should follow the "school laws". They should arrive only between 11.40am and noon, when the school gates are open, or be ready to face this punishment, he said.