Although officials say only one girl has been raped, there are rumours that at least seven girls were sexually abused. The shocked residents of Durjanpur refuse to entertain any query regarding the alleged rapes because of the obvious reasons. There is palpable tension as to what may befall the tormented girls.Elders are deeply worried about the future of the girls. A tired-looking Randhir Singh (not his real name), who was smoking a hookah outside his house in an adjoining village, initially parried all questions on the issue saying “akhbaar” and “channels” were not helping the victim's cause.
Asked why he thought so, he said, “The society may even forgive the girls but if you keep coming here, the families would be forced to do something drastic.
“It is their honour which is at stake. Who will marry the girls if they continue to be in the headlines? They could face ostracism,” he said bleary eyed. His parting advice was “do not disgrace us for nothing.”
According to the reports circulating here, it all began around May last year when two girls failed in the Class VIII examination and the said teachers, Ram Kumar and Rameshwar, allegedly approached them with an offer of promotion to the next class.
The innocent girls grabbed the offer unaware of what would
follow .For the next few months, the duo allegedly raped them repeatedly. The matter came to light a few days ago when one of the girls informed her parents.
The Deputy
Commissioner, Jind, Mr M. P. Bansal, informed The Tribune that two teachers, who
were absconding, had been arrested under Section 376B IPC.
Incidentally, both had also been suspended. The school's Principal, Chhote Lal, and teachers, Master Ajit Singh, Tek Ram Sharma and Krishan Kumar, had also been suspended for negligence.
