India's ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was left disturbed and disappointed after learning about the sexual harassment stories and inappropriate behavior from teachers and staff in schools in Chennai.
Ashwin has expressed his disappointment after a teacher at the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) School in Chennai was accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by several students from the school. The teacher was suspended and arrested on charges of sexual harassment.
An old student of the school has reportedly shared screenshots of students sharing their ordeals and one of the screenshots showed the teacher topless with only a cloth around his neck. Later, DMK MP Kanimozhi has called for immediate action against the PSBB school administration for negligence.
The veteran cricketer took to Twitter to reveal that he had been disturbed by the incident because not only as an old student of the PSBB School but also he is a father of two girls.
Ashwin wrote on Twitter on Tuesday (May 25): “Been a couple of disturbing nights, not only as an old student of PSBB but also as a father of 2 young girls. Rajagopalan (teacher accused) is one name that's come out today, but to stop such incidences all around us in the future, we need to act and need a complete overhaul of the system.”
He also attached the note along with the tweet, which reads: “So heartbreaking to hear about stories coming out from schools in and around Chennai, especially from PSBB concerning Rajagopal, have never known him in all those years of studying there but deeply disturbed about the news.”
The spinner further added, “I know justice and law will take its course, but this is the time for people to come clean and revisit the existing system. These are times of deep distress and we need to understand that we have left our children with no choice but to vent out on social media.”
Ashwin, who is set to fly England on June 2 for Test assignments, continued, “We need to create an ecosystem that encourages the children to report the smallest of incidences that make them feel unsafe, without the fear of being targeted for grades and beyond. Our children are our wealth!”
He signed off by saying, “Education is important but not everything. Let's enable our children to retain their innocence and give their childhood the sanctum it deserves.”
(With IANS Inputs)
