The entire society had been shaken by the incident that had happened on June 16. 

 

Case status:

The main accused Tashi Gyatso, 31, was charged under FIR No-39, under Section 377 (Unnatural offences) of RPC on June 16. Later, Section 342 (Punishment for wrongful confinements ), 323 ( Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) , 506 ( Punishment for criminal intimidation) of RPC was also added.  Besides, Section 24, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children), Act, 2013, was also added. At present, he is in District Jail, Choglamsar. 

 

After two-and-a-half months, another staff, who is the head warden, Lakpa Tsering of Shey Lamdon, was arrested on August 4 on the charges of abetment and was booked under Section 109 of the RPC and remanded to police custody till August 8. After that he was remanded judicial custody till August 10.  He was granted bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, prior to filing of the charge-sheet.

Leh Lamdon re-affiliates Shey Lamdon School 

On July1, Lamdon Social Welfare Society, Leh, in a press release, said, “A general body meeting was held in which it was unanimously decided to withdraw the name of Lamdon from Shey School with immediate effect”.

 

On July 9, Shel-Tang Social Welfare Society Shey held a general body meeting and appointed new executives as Dr. Sonam Dawa, then Chairman, expressed his desire that the managing committee should be reorganised, and that he won’t be in a position to devote his time to Lamdon due to the obligation of the CEC, Hill Council, Leh.

 

On July 22, Shel-Tang Social Welfare Society, Shey, in a letter written to the President of Lamdon Social Welfare Society, Leh, said, “It is a matter of regret that the Lamdon Social Welfare Society has unanimously decided to withdraw its affiliation with our School. There appears to be a serious lack of communication which has unfortunately resulted in Lamdon Social Welfare Society, Leh, taking this harsh decision, which is likely to affect about 200 students as well as the teachers and other employees.”

 

When asked about the re-affiliation case, Phuntsok Angchuk, President, Lamdon Social Welfare Society, Leh, said, “We have decided to re-affiliate the Shey Lamdon School with Leh Lamdon, keeping in mind the future of more than 200 students and the employees.  Also, they assure that such incidents will not happen again and agreed to follow the bylaws of Leh Lamdon”.

When asked about the CBSE affiliation, he said that according to the guidelines of CBSE, they should have separate affiliation. And we told them to get affiliation from CBSE or J&K board. He further informed that there were nine feeders or branches of Lamdon School in different parts of the region. 

Nawang Dorjey, President, Shel-Tang Social Welfare Society, Shey, said on the issue “After the incident, we have appointed separate male and female wardens at the school hostel. The previous head warden has resigned from the post but is continuing as a Bodhi teacher.” 

CBSE-affiliated schools in Leh

According to the information available with the CBSE website, a total of 83 schools are being run and affiliated in the state. In Leh, there are eight Schools affiliated with the CBSE, which includes Ladakh Public School, Ladakh Rigjung Public School, Lamdon Model School, Mahabodhi Residential School, Moravian Mission School, The Tibetan SOS Children Village School, Delhi Public School and Army Public School.

It is high time for the government to look into the issue of how the private schools in Leh are being run. And also, there is a need to check whether they have proper documentation and are following the bylaws.