Haryana: 142 Girl Students from Govt School Accuse Principal of Sexual Harassment Over 6 Years

At least 142 girl students from a government school in Haryana’s Jind have accused their principal of sexually harassing them over a period of six years. The alleged perpetrator is behind bars and higher officials of the education department are looking into the matter for further action, said the district administration.

According to Jind deputy commissioner Mohammad Imran Raza, an inquiry committee headed by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) has recorded the statements of 390 girls and filed complaints in 142 cases. A majority of these girl students have accused the principal of sexually exploiting them for six years, Raza told news agency ANI on Wednesday (November 22).

“A probe committee led by the SDM has recorded the statements of 390 girls in total and we have forwarded complaints of 142 instances of sexual assault on girls to higher officials of the education department for further action. Of these 142 girls, the majority accused the principal of sexually assaulting them while the rest said they were witnesses to the horrific acts. The accused principal is currently behind bars,” the deputy commissioner was quoted as saying.

Raza said during an investigation conducted by a team of three SDM-rank officers, the principal was “prima facie found guilty”. A chargesheet will now be prepared against the accused and, once that is filed, further course of action will be decided.

Additional deputy commissioner Harish Vashisht has been appointed for further investigation, the DC added. The state commission for women had earlier said 60 girl students had come forward to record their statements against the principal. But, the number has now increased to 142.

A six-member special investigation team (SIT) headed by additional superintendent of police Deepti Garg was formed on November 16 to probe the allegations. Additional director general of police Srikant Jadhav has directed the investigation team to file a report in 10 days and arrange counselling sessions for the minor girls.

On August 31, 15 girl students had written to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, National Commission for Women and Haryana State Commission for Women about the matter. On September 13, the state commission for women took cognisance of the letters and sent it to the police for action the next day, September 14.

It has, however, been alleged that the police did not take prompt action in the matter and filed an FIR more than a month later on October 30. The principal was arrested on November 4 and produced before a court on November 7 and sent to judicial custody.