PATNA: Ten people, including four women and two minors, have been arrested for thrashing 34 schoolgirls of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) at Darpakha on Saturday evening for opposing sexual advances made by some local youths, Supaul SP Mrityunjay Kumar Choudhary said on Monday.
The SP said three women were arrested on Monday morning and seven others had been arrested till late Sunday evening. “All the accused in the complaint have been arrested and forwarded to jail,” he said. Those arrested were identified as Mohan Kumar (20), Hari Om (19), Madhav Sardar (32), Munna Sardar (27), Vijay Kumar (20), Urni Devi (40), Paro Devi (25) and Geeta Devi (30) besides a minor boy and an 18-year-old girl, all residents of Darpakha under Triveniganj block in Supaul district.
They were booked under Sections 147 and 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 323, 324 and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt with weapon), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 A (sexual harassment), 354 B (attempt to disrobe) and 504 (provoke breach of peace) of IPC.
KGBV is a residential school for girls belonging to SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. The girls alleged that some local youths often harassed them sexually and passed lewd comments. On Saturday, the Classes VI to VIII girls, while playing on the school campus, confronted them for writing vulgar messages on the school wall. The boys made sexual advances, following which the girls beat them up. Later in the evening, the boys called their parents from the village and got the girls bashed up so much that two of them had to be taken to the Supaul sadar hospital while 32 others were sent to Triveniganj referral hospital.
Sources said the girls had complained to hostel warden Reema Raj last week about the sexual harassment by the local youths. However, no action was taken by the school. Supaul DM Baidya Nath Yadav said the allegation was being probed into and anyone found guilty of not paying heed to the girls’ complaints would be punished. TOI tried to contact the school officials but all calls went unanswered.
“Seven women constables and four policemen have been deputed at the residential school,” Triveniganj SHO Bashisht Munnirai told this newspaper over the phone. He said all the girls were discharged from hospital.
One of the girls said, “More than 30 people barged into the school campus where we were playing. The villagers, especially women, pulled us by hair and bashed up with sticks and rods.”
Another girl said the mob dragged them by hair and tried to disrobe them. “They left only after seeing the security guard and other officials,” she said.
Meanwhile, leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav took a dig at CM Nitish Kumar with another tweet on Monday: “After institutional rape of 34 girls in #Muzaffarpur now two dozen boys attacked 70 schoolgirls in #Supaul with sticks after they resisted sexual harassment in girls hostel, 36 hospitalized. As usual Nitish deadly silent as he has turned into Besharm Kumar. WHY DOESN’T HE SPEAK (sic)?”