In the latest news, 142 girls were sexually assaulted by their 56-year-old principal Kartar Singh at a government school in Haryana's Jind district. Details of the crime surfaced on 31 August, after 15 students of the school wrote a letter addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Haryana governor, Chief Justice of India, Haryana Education Minister and seeking action against the school principal for the alleged sexual assault. In the letter they said, the victims said that he used to call them to his office and "indulge in obscene acts" this was going on for 6 years. The State Commission for Women's chairperson Renu Bhatia said "Initially, we received a complaint on 13 September from some female students and forwarded it to the police the very next day. From September 14 to October 29, there was no action from the police department. The Education Department only suspended the accused on October 27 and no further action was taken.” But the police did not take any action. Haryana State Commission for Women gave an ultimatum to the police. Only after this, the police registered a case against the principal on 30 October 2023. The Jind district police registered a case under Section 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and Section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code. On 4 November the Jind police then formed teams to arrest the accused, The police arrested the principal and he is currently in Jind jail on judicial remand. After questioning, they have since added Sections 341(wrongful restraint), 342 (confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, and Section 10 of the Pocso Act (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) to the FIR. Jind deputy commissioner Mohammad Imran Raza said that at least 142 females students have also testified against the principal in front of a committee headed by a sub-divisional magistrate. “The committee which conducted a preliminary inquiry has found him prima facie guilty. The committee interacted with 390 female students of class 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Out of these, 142 students have directly or indirectly confirmed some of the allegations leveled against the principal,’’ Raza said. Police officer Balwan Singh said one girl died by suicide at her house and two others died of other reasons, adding all of them were enrolled at the same school. We have involved their parents as part of investigations against the accused principal. A woman District Education Officer's alleged lapse is also being investigated by the commission to find out why she did not act when she received the complaints, Bhatia said. A female teacher's role who allegedly supported the principal is also being investigated, she added. Legal experts and ind activists have raised several questions on why the officials took one-and-a-half months to register a FIR against the accused when a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act mandates immediate action. Chief minister ML Khattar said that the government had zero tolerance for such incidents. “The accused, whosoever he may be, would not be spared,” he said, adding that a woman principal was posted at the Jind school and 16 other staff members had been transferred. Renu Bhatia, the chairperson of the Haryana state women commission, has been asked to organise seminars in collaboration with the police to prevent such crimes from occurring again. Haryana has already enacted legislation (laws) to curb such incidents, including a provision for capital punishment (death penalty).”

Tags

• sexual harassment
• haryana
• school girls

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