When Narendra Rana, father of three students of Hartmann College in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, went to pick up his children after an examination on Saturday, 7 May, they came out with tears in their eyes.
"They were very nervous. After asking them what happened, they said that they had been locked inside a room because we had supposedly not cleared the fees," he said.
Parents claimed that over 35 students had been locked inside a room on Saturday, 7 May, as a form of 'punishment' over non-payment of fees. The police said that they are investigating the matter but no FIR has been lodged as yet.
Another parent said, "we are not saying that we will not pay the fees. But this is not a reason for the administration to punish children.”
The police said that the school has denied the allegations, and said that they had taken a few children to another room for the exam, and then let them off with a warning.
The school, located in Izzatnagar, is touted as ‘the best ICSE school in Bareilly’. It is a co-educational institution run by the the Christian Catholic Minority and recognised by the Department of Education (UP). It was founded in 1967.
Parents said that students who were locked in were from all age groups and classes.
Matter Under Investigation, Say Police
Rohit Singh Sajwan, SSP Bareilly told The Quint that a few parents have claimed that their children were locked inside a room. "The parents allege that they were locked up over non-payment of fees. However, the school said that they took the students to another room and started their examination late. They claimed that the students were given a warning about the fees.”
The students came out of the school at around 11.45 am, whereas they were supposed to come out at 10 am.
"We are recording students' statements and looking at the CCTV footage inside the school to ascertain whether it was an issue of non-payment or something else entirely."Rohit Singh Sajwan, SSP Bareilly
'Weren't Given Water or Allowed to Use Washrooms,' Claim Parents
Narendra Rana said that the children were held hostage inside a hall with students of all age groups. Narendra's sons, aged 10 and 12, are in Classes 7 and 8 respectively. His 14-year-old daughter studies in Class 10.
He said, “my daughter and my older son were taken to another room, along with a few other students There was no fan in this room and they were not allowed to go to the washrooms. Naturally, there was a lot of crying and chaos in the room.”
He added that the fee per child is Rs 48,000 for the year.
"I had recently paid Rs 1.28 lakh for my children’s fees. There was a balance of around Rs 15,000. Everyone generally pays the fees on time. But it has been a bit difficult of late because the economy is bad and so many have lost their jobs in the last two years."Narendra Rana, parent
Another parent, Vikas Saxena, who has two children studying in the school, said that his son in Class 3 and his daughter, who is in Class 10, were locked inside. "Both the children were very nervous and they did not know how to react."
Saxena added that because there was no fan in the room and the children were not given water, many have fallen ill.
However, the school gave the police another version. They said that they had taken a few children to another room and asked them to give their examination there. They were given a warning about the payment of fees.
The school administration did not respond to The Quint’s calls and messages. This story will be updated with a response if they do.
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