Women commission instrumental in the arrest of two principals
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Chandigarh, December 7
For the second time in about two months, the Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW) has come to the rescue of schoolgirls and has been instrumental in the arrest of two school principals over molestation.
Kaithal principal held on my directions
I gave directions for the arrest of the Kaithal principal within 24 hours, as in the Jind case. In that case, principal Kartar Singh (now sacked) had managed to flee and was arrested later. But Kaithal police didn’t take time and arrested Ravi Kumar immediately. Renu Bhatia, Chairperson, HSCW
The first case was of Jind, where the HSCW’s persistence led to a probe, an FIR and subsequent arrest of the accused principal Kartar Singh (now sacked). In this case, more than 100 girls had complained against their principal. Now, another principal of a Kaithal government school, Ravi Kumar, has been arrested on similar charges.
Chairperson, HSCW, Renu Bhatia, received a phone call from a sarpanch of a village in Kaithal on Wednesday. He told her that some girls along with their parents had complained of molestation by their principal. “The allegations were related to physical touch, use of vulgar language and obscene gestures. The village had a panchayat meeting over the issue too,” said Bhatia.
She immediately contacted Kaithal SP Upasana and told her to talk to the girls as the matter had been lingering for over two days. “The sarpanch was called and the said schoolgirls appeared before the SP and narrated their alleged sexual harassment by principal Ravi. I told the SP that when the girls had spoken about molestation, then an FIR should be registered,” said Bhatia. By 9 pm, statements of the girls under Section 164 of CrPC (statement before a magistrate) were got recorded.
“Following this, I gave directions for the arrest of the principal within 24 hours as in the Jind case, but principal Kartar Singh (now sacked) had managed to flee and was arrested later. But Kaithal police didn’t take time and arrested Ravi immediately,” she added.
