School rape snowballs
The alleged rape of schoolgirls by their teachers in Durjanpur, Jind, is snowballing into a full-blown crisis with villagers threatening to block roads if the police failed to arrest the accused.
The alleged rape of schoolgirls by their teachers in Durjanpur, Jind, is snowballing into a full-blown crisis with villagers threatening to block roads if the police failed to arrest the accused.
The villagers said the police had till Friday morning to arrest the absconding teachers. "If they fail to do so, all roads, including the Jind-Narwana state highway, will be blocked and our children will boycott their board examinations. And if we get to the two, we won't rest till we chop off their hands," a youth warned.
Though Narwana DSP Surinder Singh Malik claimed the two accused would be arrested within the next few hours, the villagers alleged the police did not act fast on their complaints and gave the teachers, Ram Kumar Punia and Rameshwar, enough time to make their escape.
The family of a girl has registered a case of rape against Punia and Rameshwar. It now turns out that the duo allegedly abused several other girls, but their families are either too scared to register a case or fear the stigma.
The girl who was allegedly raped had failed to clear her Class VIII board exams, but Rameshwar, the physical training instructor, got her to join Class IX to make sure she didn't have to leave school, says the FIR.
The police found a few packets of condoms and three used syringes in the school's “health room”, where the two teachers allegedly raped the girls. A team from the forensic department also took samples from a small bed, which was hidden behind two big almirahs. A new mattress had been placed on the bed, which the school had provided.
The education department has suspended eight teachers, including principal Chottu Lal, and transferred the remaining staff.