Karnataka headmistress, parent yet to get bail for anti-NRC play  

Two arrested women from Bidar's Shaheen Group of Institutions are yet to get bail in a case of holding an anti-National Register of Citizens skit, in which schoolchildren allegedly abused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a police official said on Wednesday.

"The headmistress and a parent arrested in the case are yet to receive the bail. Their next hearing is on February 10," told Bidar district Superintendent of Police D. L. Nagesh to IANS.

Fareeda Begum, 50, the headmistress of the school where the play was enacted, and Nazbunnisa, 36, mother of the student who allegedly abused Modi, continue to be in the jail.

Nagesh said Begum and Nazbunnisa may be out of the jail if they procure interim bail.

The Bidar Superintendent of Police has assumed charge on February 1 evening, he was not in charge of the district police when the incident occurred.

Karnataka government transferred his predecessor, T Sreedhara, to the intelligence unit in the capital Bengaluru.

As he newly assumed charge only four days ago, Nagesh said the Child Welfare Committee is yet to talk to him about the case.

"I think the Child rights panel spoke to the previous SP. I have taken over after this incident has happened," said Nagesh.

He denied that the police questioned the students five times and no student was repeatedly questioned.

"When the police went to the school for the first time on January 27, no student was available and no student was questioned. Questioning in the sense, the interaction was done with the students only thrice, not repeatedly with the same students," said Nagesh.

Meanwhile, another junior police officer said the Shaheen Group of Institutions was not cooperating and the investigation was still continuing.

"Police have to visit the institution multiple times even for basic information. We are not questioning, we are examining," said the official.

He said the investigation involved not only students but also witnesses, teachers and others.

All the students involved in the anti-NRC play were juveniles.

In the anti-NRC drama, former SP Sreedhara had said the children used abusive language against Modi, and they said the Muslims were being thrown out of India and openly called for the defiance of the law.

With its head office in Shaheen Nagar in Bidar and managed by the Allama Iqbal Educational Society, the Shaheen Group of Institutions runs a string of institutes from kindergarten to undergraduation in the state.