PC member sentenced over punishing a teacher

 

Teacher who was forced to kneel down .... wins!
7 years suspended jail term of 2 years for former PC member

Provincial Council member of North-West Province, Mr. Ananda Sarath Kumara was found guilty in courts over the incident of making a school teacher kneel down, creating a big commotion sometime ago and was today sentenced to a suspended jail sentence of 7 years by courts, ordering him to pay a fine of Rs. 50000 and a sum of Rs. 3 lakhs as compensation to the teacher 

The former member of parliament Ananda Sarath had lost his temper over the incident where his daughter was warned over an issue concerning her school uniform which made him go to the school and make the teacher kneel down on January 4th of this year.

Though this incident


was looked down upon by the entire teaching profession as a debasing and disgraceful act, this former parliamentarian has gone to the extent of making influences in various ways such as withholding evidence and making threats with the motive of giving the impression that he was not involved in such an act. During the same time period, the NW PC elections too were to be conducted and since he was a popular figure in the political field, some parties took measures to give him the nominations for the PC elections. However, when the nominations date was close at hand, he had made a speech  threatening the teacher concerned and for this very reason of violating legal conditions imposed on him at the previous court session,he was jailed and thus had to forego his nominations. A person who tried to make use of his relationship with this former parliamentarian too lost at this election.

In the meantime it was also understood that steps were taken to launch a threatening operation of obstructing evidence to be given in courts by those who were witness to the act of making the teacher go on her knees.

With all these impediments, teacher Priyani Susila Herath of Nawagaththegama Maha Vidyalaya who was teacher in charge of discipline in the school stood undaunted amidst those and finally achieved victory on the case of injustice to which she was a prey.

This is how she described this past incident which she was forced to face:

                                                                                       "I had m education at Maha Andarawewa Vidyalaya. Later I was chosen for the University of Kelaniya and after securing my Arts Degree in the year 2006, was appointed as the Sinhala graduate teacher at Nawagaththegama Isuru Navodya School and from there onwards I taught the subject of Sinhala Language to the children. I was in charge of grade 10 and 11. In addition to being a member of the disciplinary committee, I was also attached to the school management committee. A number of duties has been allotted to the disciplinary committee. The Principal as well as the disciplinary committee has been pre-informed the students of the school about disciplinary procedures to be adopted by the students.
    It includes many points. Attention is drawn to these matters at daily meetings and in the mornings. The students are made to understand these matters. These things are displayed as rules and regulation procedures.


Since both male and female students imitate various types of fashions, male and female prefects are called upon to carry out a check on school uniforms, hairstyles and also mobile phones etcetera. While these procedures are carried out every morning when students enter school premises; the Principal and we of the disciplinary committee are vigilant about these matters from a supervisory angle. When such students are brought before us, we explain matters to them making them realise that it is against discipline and finally warn them not to repeat it because it was the first occasion it has been done. Those who repeat the same mistake are only a handful. Most of the students are obedient.

We come across two or three female students whose frocks are short. The following day itself they rectify their mistake. In the case of students who have not lengthened the hem .... the school prefects give them a safety-pin to clip after lengthening the hem to the required level and ask them to come the next day in the proper manner. The next day itself they obey our instructions and come to school in the desired manner. This is an accepted disciplinary procedure of the school. Both children and their parents are aware of this. Children are admitted to school too in this manner .... after making them understand this rule. Even boards are displayed in this connection.

Last week on Friday (14th) too a check-up was carried out this way. After such an inspection 7 or 8 girls who had such faults were noticed and the hems of their frocks were removed. This is a normal disciplinary procedure of the school.

After teaching my class and after school was over, I was seated on a cement slab inside a shed awaiting the arrival of my husband and child to come on the motor cycle once the Mahauswewa School was over.

At that time two or three children after school, the Deputy Principal and a few from the external teaching staff were present there. All of a sudden a lady approached me. She was lifting a white frock and was shouting and scolding. She started disgracing me saying whether that was the way to treat them and saying, "O.k. we'll see" and walked away. She was that PC member's wife. I then admitted that we did remove the hem of the frock .... and if a complaint needs to be made .... to go upstairs and tell the Deputy Principal.

After a short while the Deputy Principal and the staff came to the place where I was. Almost just then he got a phone call. After the call he asked me, "Was the PC member's daughter's hem of the frock removed?" I said, "I don't whose child that was .... I carried out that disciplinary action on everybody". He then said, "You should have released her no .... now a big problem has cropped up".

After a while someone said that the PC member had come. Someone said, "the vehicle is parked in front of the road .... hide .... can't say what will happen here". I quickly ran and hid behind a building some distance away. I heard the PC member coming to school and shouting, "Where is that woman? I am looking for that woman," so saying he was walking and searching for me in classrooms and in buildings. I heard him shouting in obscene language. I was hiding in fright. I started shivering because of fear.Later, having looked for me without success he called someone from the staff and got down the lock key of the gate of the school and after locking the gate, took the key away. Before that he had shouted at children waiting for evening classes in the classrooms saying, "Run away!" and had thus chased them away. The children had run away in fright. There had been a Karate teacher. The PC member had scolded that teacher too saying, "What damn Karate do you know .... I know better Karate than you .... run away!"

When the noise began to diminish, I came out. Though everybody gathered together, we couldn't go out because the gate was locked. So, when we tried to go out from the garden on the other side, the PC member came in the cab from that side. I quickly started running and came once again to the tree on the middle of the road on the school grounds. The PC member approached like a devil, with a club in the hand, wearing a pair of shorts. He came towards me scolding me in filth. He was reprimanding me non-stop. He may have uttered about a thousand words in that short space of time, all the while scolding me. Those words are words that can't be written or spoken. He was saying, "You rascal .... you who removed the hem of my daughter's frock .... I'll remove your clothes! I came to make you walk on the road naked .... you rascal!" He uttered a lot of obscene words.

I asked him for pardon if I had done a mistake. "To forgive? To ask pardon from me ....? Ask forgiveness from my child by kneeling down. Do it right now. On Monday .... at the public assembly touch my child's feet and ask for forgiveness," so saying he lifted the club in his hand to strike me. I then pleaded, "Manthrithuma .... don't hit me .... forgive me!" I said so with fright. Then the PC member started, "Para belli .... kneel down in front of me," and lifted the club to deal me a blow. I didn't kneel down. He said it about three times and he was adamant on hitting me.  was helpless. I started crying out aloud. No, it just happened. I went on my knees and was not even aware of it. I was isolated in the world. Not only did I feel helpless .... I felt a blank. What I can remember was that there was someone like a rakshaya in front of me.

Even in the midst of all that, he was casting lewd remarks continuously. He was casting obscene remarks like that for about 5 minutes and then turned round and went. I thought that he was going. I tried to get up. He once again turned round .... looked at me ... came near me and said, "Para belli .... kneel down!" and made me do so a second time. I became helpless once more. I felt and thought what a sinner I was .... and started crying involuntarily. Those who were looking around in the place also were helpless. He was reprimanding me for a long time and then went away. I was just waiting like that for about 20 minutes .... I don't know whether it was even more than that". 

Today, in courts, former North-West Provincial Council member Ananda Sarath Kumara had to face a jail sentence  of 2 years suspended for 7 years. A fine of Rs. 50000 and a compensation of Rs. 3 lakhs to the teacher. As it was a suspended jail sentence, though he would not be imprisonment, if he was to harass the teacher once again for whatever reason, he would then be jailed.

Photos -- Gossip Lanka reporter Jude Samantha