India: 52 teachers accuse school management of secretly filming them in toilet, blackmailing over salary

Almost 52 teachers of a private school in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have filed a complaint accusing a school official of blackmailing them after secretly filming them inside the toilet of the school. The incident happened in Meerut.

According to Indian news reports, the teachers, in their complaint, stated that the secretary of the school’s management committee blackmailed them with their objectionable photographs and videos whenever they asked for payment of their salaries which were pending for months.

Based on the complaint, police, on Wednesday, registered a First Information Report against the secretary and his son under sections 504 (intentional insult), 354 (a) (sexual harassment) and 354 (c) (voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the secretary has denied the charges of sexual harassment levelled against him.

“There is no CCTV inside the women’s toilet. But they have been installed in the gents’ toilets. This was done against the backdrop of recent cases of murder inside some schools”, he told an Indian news channel.

He did, however, admit that for the past few months, the school had failed to pay salaries to the teachers due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Police said that an investigation is underway.