The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Principal's chamber ransacked as schoolgirls go missing

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Saturday, Nov 18, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Principal's chamber ransacked as schoolgirls go missing

Staff Reporter

Two of the three girls have since returned home

BANGALORE: Angered by the disappearance of three girl students from a private school in Chandra Layout police station limits, a group of people ransacked the school principal's chamber on Friday.

The police said that as the girls, who had gone missing had not returned home till Friday morning, some parents and local residents barged into St. Anthony's School on Gangondanahalli Main Road around 9.30 a.m., smashed the glass panes and a tabletop at the principal's chamber. The mob also damaged the glass of a notice board and pelted stones at the school building.

According to the police, the school authorities on Thursday "punished" three girls studying in seventh standard on the charge of stealing money from another student's bag. The girls, all aged 12, were told to bring their parents to school the next day.

However, during the lunch break on Thursday, the three girls ran away from the school, leaving their bags in the classroom, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) K.V. Sharathchandra said.

When the girls did not return home till late in the evening, their parents lodged a missing complaint with the Chandra Layout police on Thursday night. However, two of the girls returned to the school on Friday.

Fearing that their parents would scold them, all the three slept at a good Samaritan's house in Gangondanahalli on Thursday night, the police said, quoting the two girls.

While the two girls had gone home, search was on for the other girl, Mr. Sharathchandra said.

There was tension in the school for nearly an hour following the unruly incidents. Some parents argued with the principal that the school authorities were not taking proper care of the students.

On learning about the incident, the Chandra Layout police went to the school, pacified the agitated parents and dispersed them, Mr. Sharthchandra said.

He dismissed reports that the mob also pelted stones at a shrine on the school premises.

The school has been functioning since 1978 and it has 1,800 students.

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