Dehradun gang-rape: Victim’s parents claim schools denying admission to girl

Dehradun, October 19

Parents of a Class 10 student, who was gang-raped at a boarding school here, have filed a police complaint alleging that schools in the city are denying her admission on the ground that she will spoil the atmosphere on campus, police said on Friday.

As per the complaint, the girl’s parents approached a couple of schools but she was denied admission, Senior Superintendent of Police Nivedita Kukreti said.

One of the schools allegedly denied her admission on the ground that enrolling her will spoil the atmosphere on campus, she said.

“We are looking into the complaint. We will send a team to the school concerned to take its version on Monday as it closed for puja holidays. Meanwhile, we are also exploring the legal course of action to be taken in a case like this,” Kukreti said.

Appropriate action will be taken against the school if the charges against it are found to be true, she added.

The girl’s parents are now contemplating sending her to some school outside Dehradun.

Former chairman of Uttarakhand Commission for Protection of Child Rights Yogendra Khanduri termed the treatment meted out to the girl as “unfortunate”.

“How can they deny admission to the child? If the girl has merit, there is no reason why they should refuse to take her in,” he told PTI.

“They should give her admission even on humanitarian ground as she is a rape survivor who has suffered trauma,” he said.

The girl was gang-raped by fellow students at a school in Sahaspur here on August 14 this year. However, the matter was kept under wraps by the school authorities and it came to light only after a month on September 17.

Nine people—four students accused of perpetrating the crime and five members of the school staff including its director, principal and administrative officer—were arrested in the case.

The school’s CBSE affiliation was also cancelled on the state government’s recommendation. — PTI