File picture of police vans outside Isha Foundation in Coimbatore
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against four staffers of the Isha Foundation, Coimbatore, and a former student of a school run by the foundation for offences under different Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code.
While the former student has been named first accused, the FIR named hostel warden Nishanth Kumar, three others, namely Preethi Kumar, Prakash Somayaji and Swami Vibu as the accused in the case for offences under Sections 9 (l), 10, 21 (2) of POCSO Act and 342 of the IPC.
The case relates to alleged sexual assault by the accused student on another student and the alleged negligence from the part of the remaining accused between 2017 to 2019.
The FIR was registered at the All Women Police Station, Perur, in Coimbatore rural on January 31 based on a complaint lodged by the survivor boy’s mother.
“Though the FIR was registered on January 31, the police gave us a copy of the document only on March 28. With the police delaying providing us the FIR copy, we submitted before a magistrate during the recording of a statement that the document was not shared by the police. The magistrate directed the police to provide us a copy, following which we got it”, said the complainant to The Hindu over the phone.
The complainant has alleged that her son was molested and harassed at the school run by the foundation during 2017-2019 on many occasions by the fellow student.
Though the affected boy had complained to his house parents (in home school) Nishant Kumar and Preeti kumar, the principal of the school Prakash Somayaji and the general coordinator Swami Vibhu, he was ordered not to tell his parents about the incident, said the FIR.
As per the FIR, the boy told the school’s management about the incidents of sexual assault and sent a mail to his parents in March 2019. Though the mother contacted the school immediately, there was no reply for two days. The management responded when she threatened she would go to the police if not responded, it said.
The FIR stated that Prakash Somayaji insisted parents to talk only on WhatsApp calls. When the parents wrote an email to the school explaining the incident, they were told that the boy (alleged offender) belongs to a very elite family and nothing much could be done. It said that Swami Vibhu told the parents that he would have taken action if the victim was a girl.
The mother wanted a special investigation team to be formed to investigate the case.
Published – April 22, 2025 10:32 am IST
