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Chandigarh: At least 142 girl students have confirmed to Haryana authorities that the now-arrested principal of a school in Jind sexually harassed them, the district’s deputy commissioner said on Thursday, taking the number of victims in the grisly crime up from 60.
Jind deputy commissioner Mohammad Imran Raza told HT that at least 142 girl students have also testified against 56-year-old Kartar Singh, the principal of the government girls school, 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 girl students of class 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Out of these, 142 students have directly or indirectly confirmed some of the allegations levelled against the principal,’’ Raza said.
The Jind district police registered a case against Kartar Singh on October 30 under Section 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and Section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code, after which he was placed under suspension by the state government.
The deputy commissioner said that the committee has recommended disciplinary action against the accused principal. This would be in addition to the criminal proceedings initiated against him under Pocso and IPC. “A regular inquiry would be initiated against him and additional deputy commissioner, Harish Vashisht would conduct it after a charge sheet is submitted against him,” the deputy commissioner said.
Police arrested Singh on November 4, 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.
Gruesome details of the alleged crime surfaced on August 31, after students of the school wrote a letter addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, Haryana governor and the National Commission for Women seeking action against the school principal for the alleged sexual assault. The Haryana secondary education department suspended the principal on October 27.
Urchana station house 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. We are inquiring whether the girls were among the signatories in the sexual harassment complaints sent to the President and the Prime Minister’s office,” he said.
On August 31, 15 targets of the principal’s allegedly predatory behaviour banded together to write a five-page letter addressed to the most powerful offices in the country — the President of India, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India, the Haryana governor, and the state education minister.
On Thursday, 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.
“To address the issue comprehensively, Renu Bhatia, the chairperson of the Haryana state women commission, has been asked to organise seminars in collaboration with the police to prevent such heinous acts from occurring. Haryana has already enacted legislation to curb such incidents, including a provision for capital punishment,” Khattar said.
School principal sexually assaulted 142 girls in Haryana: Probe – Hindustan Times
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