Mumbai: The Vakola police have registered an FIR against the principal of a Santacruz school for allegedly slapping a 15-year-old Class 10 student around 25 times and even punching him once for his “indisciplined behaviour”. The accused, Joshua De Souza, is the principal of St Mary’s High School and Junior College in Kalina, Santacruz East. He even brazenly told the teen’s family to file an offence against him, claiming he was a lawyer and would fight the case, as per the FIR. The police said that they have issued a notice to the principal.

The student, a Kurla West resident, said that the alleged incident took place between 4pm and 9pm on November 13 when the school had organised a Children’s Day party. The teen recounted that at the party, De Souza asked him to sit with a teacher, saying “You behave in an indisciplined manner. Whenever your parents are called, you never come with them, but you have come for the party.”

The student said that the principal then asked him to call his parents, however, his mother could not come as she could not get an auto, said the FIR, adding that his father runs a garment shop. The teen claimed that an enraged De Souza told his mother that she could have simply walked to the school. He allegedly warned the parents to meet him else the child won’t be allowed to leave.

As per the FIR, De Souza then took the boy to his cabin and yelled, “What do you think of yourself?”. Out of nowhere, he launched a slapping spree and assaulted the victim 20 to 25 times on cheeks and neck and also punched him once in the stomach, alleged the FIR. Subsequently, the accused called his father, saying they could file a case against him. The victim claimed that De Souza then told him to leave, else he would thrash him again.

He later narrated his ordeal to his mother and his cousin, who took him to Bhabha Hospital, and met De Souza on November 17. He apparently conceded that he slapped the boy out of anger, assured them he would never hit him again and requested them not to file a police complaint. The cousin sought the CCTV footage, which showed De Souza raising his hand, however, the footage did not clearly capture the assault.

The incident has created a stir in the local community. “The principal spent the whole day in the police station,” said a Kalina resident. He later obtained bail. Another local community demanded his sacking, saying the child’s medical report shows injuries.

A case has been filed under sections 75 (cruelty to a child by a person having charge or control) and 82 (corporal punishment in child care institutions) of the Juvenile Justice Act along with relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhit.

Mumbai: The Mahim police have registered an FIR against former and current office-bearers of the Saraswati Mandir Education Trust, Senapati Bapat Road, Mahim (West), along with the proprietor of two private consultancy firms, for allegedly collecting Rs 75.50 lakh to secure CBSE affiliation for Class 9 and 10 and committing fraud.

The accused have been identified as former and current secretary Sanjay Kashinath Sukhtankar, 69, former committee member Mangesh Narayan Rajadhyaksh, 67, former trustee Anil Pai Kokade, 77, former chairman Vinay Bhagwant Rege, 79, and Anupama Khetan, 43, proprietor of Paribhasha Educational Services and Shashwat Solutions.

According to the FIR, complainant Dr. Manohar Sanjeev Kamat, 71, a medical practitioner and former vice-president of the institution (2015–2020), alleged that the school management decided nearly a decade ago to begin a CBSE section and reserved one school building for this purpose. Classes were conducted up to Class 8 with state government permission, but CBSE affiliation is mandatory for Classes 9 and 10.

In 2018, when the first batch reached Class 8, an application for CBSE affiliation was submitted. However, some committee members later claimed that the school did not meet CBSE’s infrastructure norms, making approval unlikely.

Two management committee members Mangesh Narayan Rajadhyaksh and Mohan Nerulkar, along with trustee Anil Pai Kakode allegedly informed the board that Anupama Khetan, proprietor of Paribhasha Educational Services and Shashwat Solutions, could “facilitate” the approval as she was an “agent” experienced in securing CBSE affiliation. They also suggested that bribes might need to be paid to senior CBSE officials.

Then-secretary Sanjay Sukhtankar allegedly supported this proposal. On their recommendation, the management allegedly issued a cheque for Rs 30 lakh to Khetan, formalised through an MoU for account and audit purposes. Six months later, Khetan allegedly began paperwork for the affiliation process and arranged visits by CBSE inspection officials.

Later, she allegedly demanded an additional Rs 30 lakh via cheque and Rs 15 lakh in cash for “service charges”. Committee members informed Dr. Kamat that these payments were approved, and minutes of the management meeting on 17 August 2020 recorded the decision to pay her Rs 15 lakh in cash. However, no such entry appeared in the audit report, indicating the cash payment was made off the books.

Despite these payments, in March 2022, CBSE formally rejected the school’s affiliation request. A newly appointed committee in December 2021 also reviewed the matter and reapplied, but without success.

In February 2022, Khetan was called for discussions, during which it emerged that she had allegedly taken a total of Rs 75 lakh from the institution, but no substantive work had been carried out. Dr. Kamat submitted a written complaint to the new management demanding an inquiry into corruption and misuse of funds. When no action was taken, he approached the Mahim Police and the Charity Commissioner.

Following an inspection initiated by the Charity Commissioner, the inquiry officer noted that audit reports showed Rs 21.60 lakh (2019–20) and Rs 53.92 lakh (2020–21) recorded as “professional fees”. Since inquiry officers are not audit experts, the complainant was advised to seek a special audit through appropriate legal channels.

Based on Dr. Kamat’s complaint and subsequent findings, the Mahim police have registered a case under IPC Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) against the accused office-bearers and Anupama Khetan. The matter remains under investigation.

Mumbai, Nov 21: Indian benchmark indices opened in mild red zone on Friday, amid negative global cues and fading investor hopes of a US Fed rate cut in December.

As of 9.25 am, Sensex declined 80 points, or 0.09 per cent at 85,551 and Nifty dipped 15 points, or 0.05 per cent to 25,860.

The broadcap indices performed in line with the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.30 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 dipped 0.34 per cent.

TCS, Asian Paints and NTPC were among the major gainers in the Nifty Pack, while losers included Hindalco, Shriram Finance, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank.

All the sectoral indices on NSE were trading in red except Nifty Auto (up 0.30 per cent). Nifty Metal down 0.79 per cent was the biggest loser.

Analysts said that India will gain if the AI trade slows down and capital begins to shift into non-AI stocks in emerging markets.

All of the major Asia-Pacific markets fell in early trading sessions after US AI and tech stocks shed value and investors lost hopes of a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The volatility of the market has increased evident by Nasdaq, the barometer of AI trading, ending the day down 2.15 per cent, crashing 4.4 per cent from the intraday peak.

“This type of market movement indicates that there will be more volatility in the future. AI stock prices may see fresh buying at lower valuations. We will need to wait and observe the course of this unstable period,” an analyst said.

The US markets ended in the red zone overnight, as Nasdaq slipped 2.16 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.56 per cent, and the Dow declined 0.84 per cent.

In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index dipped 1.71 per cent, and Shenzhen dipped 2.52 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei dipped 2.31 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 2.17 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 3.94 per cent.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 284 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 824 crore.