21 children of a Govt residential school in Arunachal Pradesh molested, raped by warden; Gauhati HC takes suo moto case

Itanagar: The Gauhati High Court has taken up a suo moto case of sexual abuse of 21 students by the warden of a residential school in Arunachal Pradesh. Yumken Bagra, a warden of the Government residential school in Karo village in Shi-Yomi district, raped and molested 21 children in the hostels of the school-aged between 5 to 12 years. The horrific incidents of rape and sexual harassment took place between 2019 and 2022.

Yumken Bagra, the accused, is out on bail, granted by the special court in Yupia. But after much disappointment and anger amongst the parents and civil society, the Gauhati High Court took a suo moto case on July 20 and fixed July 21 for its hearing.

The entire Arunachal Pradesh was shaken after the horrific incident came to light after a complaint filed by a parent of two victim children in November 2022. The State Government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the heinous incident. After a detailed investigation, SIT, led by SP Rohit Rajbir Singh, found that 21 children aged 6 to 12 were sexually abused by the warden, and it was made public in a press conference on July 19.

The SIT found that twenty-one children – 15 girls and six boys, aged 6 to 12 years (Class 1-5) – were sexually assaulted and molested by warden Yumken Bagra.

It should be mentioned that in November 2022, a father of two girl children in the hostel of a Government residential school in Karo village filed an FIR stating that his daughters were sexually assaulted by the warden at the Monigong police station. The case was immediately registered, and later, it was transferred to the SIT of the vigilance department by the State Government. The SIT, in its investigation, found that there a total of six children were raped, nine were sexually molested, and six children were sexually harassed.

The accused warden Yumken Bagra has been charge-sheeted for aggravated penetrated assault/molestation and booked under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society and various other civil society organisations demanded exemplary punishment for the accused warden so that the poor parents of the state could regain trust to send their children to Government residential schools. But as of now, all eyes are on the proceedings of the Guwahati High Court, as the hearing of the sensational case will start on July 21.