On August 29, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested a 51-year-old school principal, identified as De Rajeev Pandey, in Ghaziabad following allegations of sexual harassment. The case was highlighted on social media after a letter, allegedly written with blood by the assault victims, went viral. The opposition parties and the liberals started giving this case a caste twist. However, the police delivered in time and has nabbed the accused principal.
Notably, a four-page letter allegedly written with blood went viral on social media. In this letter, the victims accused the school principal stating that he used to call them into his office where he touched them inappropriately. The victims belong to the age group from 12 to 15 and said that they were initially afraid, as the teacher threatened them but later broke the silence.
What does the complaint letter say?
The letter read, “We were made to sit at the police station for four hours and yet there is no action against the principal. Police come to our homes daily and threaten our parents. It is difficult to even step out.”
The victim stated, “School authorities have ordered us to not attend classes anymore. All of us who have been harassed by him want to discuss this issue with you in person. We request you to grant us and our parents permission to meet you and demand justice. We are all your daughters.”
After the victims shared their plight with their parents, they reached the school with a counsellor on August 21 where the principal not only abused them but their parents as well.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Saloni Agarwal who was accused of reprimanding the students commented, “A complaint against the principal was filed right away after students alleged molestation and bad touch by him.”
One of the students told the media, “Every time the principal walked into class, the girls would recoil. He hardly ever used the teacher’s desk, choosing to sit among the students. He would tell us he would fix our dresses. He would touch us inappropriately. When we objected, he said it was his love for us,”
She added, “I have been seeing this since I took admission here in 2021. He would often call girls to his cabin and comment on their clothes. He would ask things like, ‘What is that you are wearing inside,” she unveiled.
The victim said that the principal used to target students from class 6 to 10.
She added, “One day, he called me to his cabin and asked me some objectionable questions too. He even patted some girls inappropriately on the pretext of fixing their uniforms.”
It is shocking but when the parents went to confront the principal on August 21, that day as well he asked one of the students to stay back in his room. Later, the student came out crying from his chamber.
The mother of another student at the school noted, “In between sobs, she only managed to say the principal had unbuttoned her shirt and touched her. Later, I came to know he did similar things to my daughter as well,” on 29 August.
The victim student said, “When we reached out to a teacher, we were told to complain should he do it again. But we didn’t agree. We thought if we don’t complain now, then more students will have to go through this trauma,”
One of the victim’s father told media that, “My daughter had told me earlier about the principal’s bad touch. It was my mistake that I didn’t take her seriously. I thought he cared for the students. I regret not believing her now.”
Police arrested the accused
Notably, on August 22, more than 50 girl students shared complaint letter with the counsellor and then she moved to the police. Following the complaint letters an FIR (number 276/2023) was registered against the principal.
As per the police, the accused have been booked under sections 354A (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The principal had been taken into custody, and portions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act had been included in the FIR, according to DCP (rural) Vivek Yadav. He alleged, “Allegations about police inaction are untrue. No police team has visited the houses of the students or threatened them. But we will look into this claim as well.”
थाना वेव सिटी क्षेत्रान्तर्गत किसान आदर्श हायर सेकेन्ड्री स्कूल, बम्हैटा के प्रधानाचार्य पर बच्चीयों के बैड टच एवं छेडखानी के आरोप लगाये गये थे, जिनको गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया है।
वीडियो बाइट~एसीपी वेव सिटी@Uppolice pic.twitter.com/EucDMObLHU— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE GHAZIABAD (@ghaziabadpolice) August 29, 2023
It is pertinent to mention that following the complaint filed by the minor victims, the principal also registered a counter FIR. He registered the complaint alleging that 60 parents, the councilwoman, and two of her men assaulted him on the school grounds. He refuted the charges framed against him by the minor victims. “The councillor is trying to corner me as I refused to give admission to a child known to her. Over 50 people stormed into my office in her presence and attacked me.”
