Man Accused of Assaulting Isfahan Students Arrested and School Principal Removed from Post

AlirezaMahdi, director of public relations for the Isfahan Provincial Education Department, announced on Monday, December 3rd, that the principal and supervisor of a boys’ school where several students were sexually harassed have been dismissed from their positions.

Mahdi’s statement came following reports about assault on students at a boys’ school in District 4 of Isfahan, which was widely shared on social media on Sunday evening and caused concern among parents.

Parents’ Gathering

On Monday morning, videos and photos of parents gathering at the school were circulated on social media. According to reports, the accused perpetrator was not a member of the school’s teaching staff.

The director of public relations for the Isfahan Provincial Education Department, regarding the sexual assault allegations against children at the school raised by some parents, stated that this matter “remains a claim and nothing has been proven yet”.

AlirezaMahdi said that officials from the Provincial Education Department and District 4 of Isfahan visited the school on Monday morning to investigate the dimensions of the incident.

The accused individual, who was vice-chairman of the school’s parents and teachers association, has been arrested. Mahdi added: “We are awaiting the final opinion of the forensic medical examiner. The District 4 Education Department has also filed a complaint against this person for damaging the reputation of education.”

AlirezaMahdi told the “Isfahan Today” website that the boys’ school has not been closed and “if any negligence occurred by the school management, they must be held accountable. The principal and supervisor of this shift have been removed from their posts and a caretaker has not yet been appointed for the school.” He stated that the school has hundreds of other students who “have rights and should continue their education”.

Child Abuse or Assault

According to IRNA, the Prosecutor General and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Isfahan described the incident that occurred at one of Isfahan’s boys’ schools as “child abuse” and stated that “assault has not been proven”.

Ali Esfahani, Isfahan’s prosecutor, said on Monday in a conversation with an IRNA correspondent that this matter was reported to the judicial system on December 10th this year following a complaint by four parents of students from one of Isfahan’s schools, and the accused person subjected several students to sexual harassment and abuse.

He clarified: “The accused has been arrested and has so far denied the allegations. Preliminary investigations into the dimensions of this incident are ongoing and additional information will be released.”

Esfahani asked the parents of these students to “be assured that if this person’s crime, who is himself a parent at the school, is proven, he will be punished by the judicial system”.

Family Concerns

In a report by ISNA news agency about this incident, a parent of one student said: “How could this school not have cameras if such an incident occurred? Children enter this school in fear and terror, and they are afraid of the restrooms.”

Other parents have spoken about their children’s fear and being threatened into silence. One parent said: “One child’s hand was marked with a knife so that children would not be able to speak.”

Parents are demanding that all families of the 400 students at this school be questioned about whether their children experienced any assault. It is reported that the school’s security cameras have also been tampered with.

According to Ali Esfahani, the Prosecutor General and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Isfahan, children for whom sexual assault allegations have been raised have been referred to the forensic medical examiner.