Taking a sou motu cognizance of the sexual harassment of 13 girl students by a computer instructor in a government school in the Shahjahanpur district of central Uttar Pradesh, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the UP Chief Secretary (CS) and state Director General of Police (DGP) seeking a detailed report over the incident, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
The Chief Secretary and DGP have been asked to revert to the NHRC with a detailed report, including action taken against the perpetrators, and the current status of the investigation, within six weeks. The commission, which took notice of the media reports, issued the notice on Wednesday, May 17.
In the notice, the commission has also sought the details of the compensation paid to the victims/families so far and if any counselling of the victims has been initiated as the girl students were reportedly scared and hesitant to attend school, after the incident.
What happened?
A computer instructor allegedly molested the girls aged between 12-16 years at a government school under the Tilhar police station area. The matter came to light on Tuesday, May 16, when one of the victims shared her ordeal with her parents and they brought the issue to the notice of the police authorities concerned.
While the perpetrator of the crime Mohammad Ali has been arrested, the principal of the school along with an assistant teacher has been suspended by the state basic education authorities. The principal is accused of inaction despite being in the know-how of the incident.
As per Shahjahanpur SSP S Ananad, all three including the computer instructor, principal and assistant teacher, were booked under sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the IPC and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. Moreover, a child welfare committee has also been informed.
Bringing the issue to light
However, after the incident was reported, the parents of the victims stormed the school premises lodging a huge protest leading the Basic Shiksha Adhikari to take notice of the incident and initiate action against the principal and two others.
Meanwhile, the NHRC has asked that the state government to issue proper guidelines to all the schools under its jurisdiction, avoid any delay or attempt to conceal facts in any untoward incident from the police on the part of school authorities so that the perpetrators are nabbed immediately.
