Plea to constitute special child-safety committee in educational institutions

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the educational authorities to file a report to a public interest litigation petition that sought a State-wide directive for constitution of a special child-safety committee in all the educational institutions in Tamil Nadu.

A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel was hearing a petition filed by C. Selvakumar of Madurai. The petitioner said the committee should comprise representatives from the district administration, police, child protection authorities and parents to ensure effective monitoring and grievance redressal mechanism.

Referring to recent news reports regarding the arrest of a private higher secondary school teacher in Madurai on the charges of sexually harassing a girl student in 2025, the petitioner said the incident demonstrated the need to strengthen preventive child-safety in government, government-aided and private schools, and colleges.