Headmistress suspended after Dalit students accuse her of forcing them to clean toilets

Tiruppur headmistress suspended for allegedly making SC students clean toilets, denies accusations, sparking controversy and investigation.

Acting on reports that two girl students belonging to a Scheduled Caste (Arunthathiyar) community were made to clean toilets at the Government Middle School in D. Kumarapalayam in Dharapuram Taluk, the School Education Department suspended the headmistress, Ilamathi Eashwari, on Wednesday. Ms. Eashwari, who belongs to the Parayar sub-sect of the Dalit community, alleged that the girls were “manipulated” into making the allegation.

The suspension order was issued after officials of the Revenue and School Education Departments held an inquiry with the headmistress. She is due to retire in a few days.

The inquiry was conducted based on a video clip showing the two students cleaning a toilet and narrating their predicament. The video was reportedly recorded by a caretaker of Ambedkar Padippagam.

During the inquiry with the School Management Committee (SMC), the officials had reportedly learnt that the parents and the staff had taken the position that the allegation had been foisted on the headmistress by external elements.

The headmistress had reportedly advised all the students to maintain cleanliness by following hygienic practices in school. The SMC members claimed that the two students had been misled into levelling the allegation.

It is learnt that 38 out of the 43 students of the co-educational school belong to the SC-Arunthathiyar community and the rest to the Most Backward Classes.

When contacted, the headmistress alleged that the “innocent” students had been manipulated into levelling the allegation.