Schoolgirls' molestation case: Madhya Pradesh cop suspended for dereliction of duty

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A police official has been suspended for dereliction of duty while registering a case of alleged molestation of some girls in a school in Madhya Pradesh's Dindori district, an official said.

A priest, a nun, the principal and a guest teacher of the school in Junwani, some 60 kilometres from the district headquarters, were booked on March 4 on the complaint of a few girl students that they were beaten up and molested. The principal was then arrested, officials had said earlier.

The school is run by the Jabalpur Diocesan Education Society (JDES) of the Roman Catholic community.

Priyank Kanoongo, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), met the students and officials on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Dindori Superintendent of Police Sanjay Singh said that Samnapur police station in-charge Vijay Patle has been suspended for not invoking the SC/ST Act against the accused principal and releasing him.

In a series of tweets from his official handle, Kanoongo said that the organisation where children were allegedly sexually abused was getting funding from the government.

The government money was being taken in the name of 4 different hostels on the same campus and fees were also being collected from the children, he said.

He claimed that evidence of conversion was also found in the institution.

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Police have also registered a case against 10 Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) leaders for obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty, said Kotwali police station in-charge C K Sirame.

The NCPCR chairman said that the GGP leaders, including Radheshyam Kakodia, created ruckus at the government-run one-stop centre where the girls had been kept, surrounded the police station and took away the accused besides making the name of the girls public and attempting their character assassination.

The district administration has started the process of suspension of two block education officers, while the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) will investigate the financial scam, Kanoongo said.

Earlier, the SP had informed that the 40-year-old principal and 35-year-old guest teacher were booked on the night of March 4 under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

The caretaker of the school, who is a 40-year-old priest, has been booked for overlooking the complaints of the girls, while the nun (35) has been charged with beating the girls. Only the principal has been arrested as yet, the SP had said.

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