Rape allegations surface in two Dehradun schools

Revealing more shocking details about the school in question over the recent death of a 12-year-old boy in Dehradun, the chairperson of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) alleged that another girl who studied in class 7 in the same school was raped by school staff in 2012 and the matter was brushed under the carpet by the school authorities. The official shared the details while speaking to reporters here on Thursday.

“We have learnt that a girl studying in class 7 in 2012 was also raped by school staff but nothing happened in that case. That girl also did not get any justice, we will fight for all these cases,” said Usha Negi, chairperson of SCPCR.

The official also shared certain documents from 2006 by Bar Association Doiwala, which stated that in September 2006, another girl was raped and impregnated by the manager and two staff members of a missionary school in Dehradun’s Vikas Nagar region. The main accused in this (2006) case is the relative of the manager of the school in question for the death of the 12-year-old. The document further mentions that when the officials learnt that the girl was pregnant they got her pregnancy aborted. The SCPCR chairperson also alleged that a boy from the same school went missing in 2017 from a school trip to Narendra Nagar in Tehri Garhwal district and the boy has not been traced till now.

Negi also questioned the investigations being carried out in the case of death of the 12-year-old boy and has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe as she alleges discrepancies in the designation of the school staff arrested by the police.

The police on March 26 arrested three school staff along with two minors. The three school staff accused in the case were identified as school manager Praveen Messi, physical education teacher Ashok Solomon, hostel warden Ajay Kumar. However, the documents (affidavit) submitted to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in November 2016 mentions Stephen Sarkar as the School Manager or Chief Manager and the names of the three accused arrested are nowhere in the list of school managing committee. The affidavit, a copy of which was accessed by HT was signed by Stephen Sarkar.

“If the manager is someone different on the affidavit submitted to CBSE and the accused arrested by the police is also being called the manager, then we want to know who is the real culprit? Is the real culprit being saved and some dummy official has been arrested?” questioned Negi.

Negi said that the school has taken a registration as an orphanage but most students studying in the school have their parents living in different leprosy shelters across the country. “School officials go to ashrams and ask parents to send their children to the school promising them a better future. Parents have also told me that the school authorities charge a certain amount of fee from them and they only claim to give free education but they don’t in real,” added Negi.

First Published: Apr 04, 2019 23:55 IST