Mumbai: Kalina school reduces 12-year-old to tears

St. Mary's High School in Kalina harassed a 12-year-old boy for four months over non-payment of fees. The management even barred the Std VIII student from taking his exams this January, as they did not get the fee of Rs 18,000 at one go, the mother said. The family has been struggling financially as his father, the breadwinner, is battling TB, she added.

The mother told mid-day that her husband, a tuberculosis (TB) patient, worked as a driver for a living. The family has been struggling financially since the past two years, when it was first diagnosed, but his health deteriorated a few months back and their income stopped. She had requested the school for some time to pay the fees, but the management refused and made her 12-year-old son sit outside the classroom for four months, the mother alleged.

On March 22, she approached the Vakola police, who on Tuesday filed an FIR against Father Rui Cumello of St. Mary's High School, headmaster Barnadette and primary headmaster Rajina Pereira. Police said they filed the FIR after an initial probe and will now call the accused to record their statements.

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The complainant, a resident of Santacruz, said both her sons go to St. Mary's High School at Kalina in Santacruz East. The elder one is in Std IX, she said.
"The school demanded that we deposit a fee of Rs 18,000 each immediately. We requested the management to allow us to pay the fees in instalments in some time, but they didn't agree. I managed to pay the fees of my elder son after selling my gold ornaments, but failed to arrange money for the younger one," she told mid-day.

"Instead of helping us, the school management began harassing my son. They made him sit outside the classroom, on the floor. They have traumatised my child. He now refuses to go to school any more because he feels embarrassed," she added.

The school management did not allow the 12-year-old boy to write his exams in January and threatened to bar him from future exams, too, she alleged.

She added, "When I contacted Barnadette and Pereira, they told me that if we cannot afford to pay the fees, we should enrol our son in a BMC school."

Senior Inspector Rajesh Shinde of Vakola police station said, "The student was not allowed to sit in the classroom for four months over non-payment of fees. We have registered an FIR against Father Cumello, Barnadette and Pereira for harassing the student. They have been booked under Section 23 (punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child) of Child Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. We are carrying out further investigation."

The school management told mid-day, "The parents' statements are misleading and malicious. They have stooped to such a level to train the children to lie. Over the past five years, 162 students' fees are pending. In the current scenario, it is difficult to run the school given the fact that we have to pay the school teachers and staff members."

22 March
Day the mother filed a police complaint

11 April
Day the Vakola police filed an FIR