Even after their resignation last year, life has been traumatic as Verma has continued to harass them, they say.

``This case only goes on to show that the private organisations think that they are above the law,'' said Jasjit Purewal, director IFSHA, an NGO which has taken up the case, while addressing a press conference. She was referring to the 1997 Supreme Court guidelines that clearly states that a sexual harassment committee inquiry be constituted immediately by the managing committee.

These teachers claim that it is not just them but other teachers as well who have submitted written petitions to NGOs but have not come out in the open. They also allege that some schoolgirls hadalso faced similar experiences and were living in the shadow of fear.

Despite repeated attempts to contact him, Verma was unavailable for comment.

``On one occasion he asked me to go and check something in the seminar room of the school and then he followed me. He closed one of the doors and grabbed me. He then plainly asked me to kiss him,'' said Shirni Kaul, who worked as a receptionist in the school.

According to Kaul, he even showed her newspaper cutting of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair and said that ``if they can do it, why not us,'' while asking her blatantly for sexual favours.

On being refused, he turned vindictive, issuing them memos, stopping their confirmation, demoting them and insulting them openly, the teachers allege.

Jayshree Kannan, the senior-most teacher in the school, says it became a nightmare when he not only harassed her but victimised her two sons studying in the same school. ``My son was in class XII and he got his marks reduced in the practicals,'' saidKannan.

All three are now jobless, they say, because he makes sure that he calls up their prospective employers before they joined.

The victimisation only came to light when vice-president of DPS, Dr Kamal Choudhury was asked to investigate the charges by justice NN Goswami, chairman DPS society. This was after one of the complainants had written to the National Commission of Women and they in turn had asked the DPS management committee to respond.

Other people contacted by the harassed trio include UPCC chief Salman Khurshid, the president of DPS schools.

``I found good ground for more detailed investigations,'' said Choudhury who submitted her investigation this April. At least three of them were found to be clear cases of sexual harassment. The school after that has appointed a committee to conduct an internal inquiry but not like the one prescribed by the Supreme Court order.

``The National Commission of Women is with these people and will do everything to support them,'' said Poornima Advanni,member NCW.

``Despite the judicial elevation of sexual harassment to a violation of right to life and liberty, prestigious institutes like DPS continue to flout the order,'' said Naina Kapur, advocate and director, Sakshi.

Those fighting with these women are demanding that a committee as per the Supreme Court guidelines be set up immediately, an investigation done in the presence of a third party like the NGO to make it above board and transparent and the principal be immediately suspended.