'No excuse for inviting POCSO accused to school,' says Kerala education minister

Kerala's General Education Minister V Sivankutty on June 4 strongly said that individuals accused in POCSO cases should not be allowed to participate in any events held at government-run schools.

His comments came in response to a recent incident where a person facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act reportedly attended the reopening ceremony of a government school in the state.

"The school or its teachers cannot claim they were not aware of who the person was. There is a failure on their part," Sivankutty said.

He added that the headmistress of the school met him earlier in the day and explained that the accused was invited by a voluntary organization that regularly donates notebooks, textbooks, and other supplies to the school.

According to the minister, the headmistress said the organization acknowledged the error and termed it an unintentional mistake.

"I made it clear that inviting such a person to a school event was not right. Such individuals should not be invited for any school-related events," Sivankutty said.

The General Education Department had already ordered an investigation into the matter on June 3.

Media reports identified the individual as a well-known vlogger who was invited as a celebrity guest to the "praveshanotsavam," the annual school reopening ceremony, held on June 2.