Over 50 students of Jind school have alleged sexual harassment by principal: Haryana women panel

Chandigarh: Over 50 female students of a government school in Jind district have accused their principal of sexual harassment, the Haryana State Commission for Women said on Friday as it pulled up the police for their lackadaisical approach to the complaints.

The commission said they had forwarded the complaints from a few female students of the school to the police on September 14 but action was taken only on October 30.

The Haryana police had on Monday booked the school principal, days after he was suspended by the Jind administration over allegations of sexual harassment of a few students.          

The Jind police have formed teams to nab the accused, a police official from the district said on Friday, stating that the principal, who is aged around 55 years, is evading arrest.          

Speaking to reporters in Panchkula, the State Commission for Women's chairperson Renu Bhatia said, "We have received 60 written complaints against the principal from the girl students. Out of this, 50 are complaints from girls who stated physical abuse at the hands of the accused. Ten other girls, in their complaint, said they knew the principal was into such things." Bhatia added that all the complainants were minor.

The victims alleged that the accused used to call them to his office and "indulge in obscene acts", she said.

"Initially, we received a complaint on September 13 from some female students and forwarded it to the police the very next day. From September 14 to October 29, there was no action on their end," Bhatia said, pointing at the "lackadaisical approach" of the Jind police in the matter.          

"The girls later contacted us again. We spoke to the Superintendent of Police after which an FIR was registered," she added.

Bhatia also asked why the accused was not arrested immediately once the FIR was registered, which gave him time to abscond.            

A woman District Education Officer's alleged lapse is also being investigated by the commission to find out why she did not act when she received the complaints, Bhatia said.          

A female teacher's role who allegedly supported the principal is also being investigated, she added.

She said some girls contacted the commission on Thursday evening alleging that they received phone calls from unknown persons who pressurised them to recall their statement.

The commission's chairman urged the Haryana DGP and the Jind Superintendent of Police to ensure that the accused is arrested immediately. "Such persons deserve to be sent behind bars immediately," she said.

Bhatia said the commission had proof that the principal used to call some of the girls on their phones and tried to chat with them, adding that he had kept at least three mobile phones which were not known to his family or anyone else.

The accused had allegedly installed a tinted door at his office in the school, the police had said. The principal did not have a good record in other schools too where he was posted, Bhatia said, adding that there were complaints of misbehaviour with female students against him at two other schools, she said.           The police in Jind district on Monday registered a case against the principal under Sections 354-A (sexual harassment), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, SHO of the police station under whose jurisdiction the school falls had said.    

Officials in the Jind district administration had earlier said the school principal was suspended by the Haryana government on October 27. A group of female students of the school had also reportedly recently shot off letters to the Prime Minister's Office and National Commission for Women detailing their ordeal, sources said.

About the nature of allegations made by the female students, Jind Deputy Commissioner Mohd Imran Raza had on Sunday said they have alleged that the principal used to "indulge in obscene acts" with them.