On Monday, October 31, 2022, police in Dongri, Maharashtra, filed an FIR against Javed Shroff, the chairman of the Habib Esmail Education Trust school. The FIR was filed in response to a complaint filed by a teacher at the school who claimed the chairman abused and molested her. As per the police complaint, the chairman also sexually assaulted the woman.
As per news agency ANI, the case has been filed under sections 354 509, 506, and 504 of the IPC and the Atrocity Act has also been invoked. Police said that they are investigating the matter.
While more details are awaited in the aforementioned case, it is worth noting that the chairman of the Habib Esmail Education Trust school was recently embroiled in another controversy. A staff of the Islamic school filed a police complaint against Javed Shroff last week, accusing him of not paying their dues for over two months, reported Mid-Day.
The matter came to light after Bodhi Atul Darastekar, the BMC-appointed school in charge of the primary section, and some staff members approached the Dongri police station on October 19, Wednesday.
Besides non-payment of dues, Darastekar also complained that the school’s chairman, Javed Shroff, harasses the staff and does not allow them to leave until midnight, and keeps them engaged in non-teaching activities practically every day. The teacher also alleged that the infrastructure of the school, including the classrooms, is also in a dilapidated condition. The restrooms are dirty and unfit for human use, she added.
“Shroff is an influential local politician,” said the school in charge. She added, “Around 60 staffers have been appointed by the BMC to work in this school, but its management didn’t submit the pay sheet to the BMC to release our salary.”
According to Mid-Day, the BMC education department recently sent a letter to the school reminding management to submit the October pay sheet of the employees as well as provide a written explanation for the failure to do so, but to no effect.
The letter, dated October 17, read, “School management did not submit the October pay sheet of the staff nor give a written explanation as to why they failed to submit it. Due to this reason, the BMC education department has not issued salaries to the staff. The school and its management will be responsible for this.”