Express News Service
LUCKNOW: In a shocking incident putting humanity to shame, 17 Class 10 girl students were allegedly molested after being drugged when they were called for practical classes and made to stay overnight in school premises to complete their studies, said police.
The girls were allegedly drugged by being served khichdi laced with sedatives in two private schools of Purkazi area of Muzaffarnagar district of western UP.
The incident dates back to November 18 when two school managers of Purkaji town stopped 17 girls from Bhopa at GGS International School at night, spiked their food and allegedly molested them.
As per the police sources, no female teacher was present with the girls and families alleged that even after the police got information about the incident, the cops made attempts to save the school managers.
The matter finally came to light 17 days later when local BJP MLA Pramod Utwal intervened and a probe was ordered. The sources claimed that the victims were also threatened that they would be failedin exams and their families would be killed if they told anyone about the incident. The students stopped going to school the next day and narrated the entire incident to the family members.
The incident was also reported by Kamhera village pradhan who brought it to the notice of SSP (Muzaffafarnagar) Abhishek Yadav on December 4 through a WhatsApp message.
SSP Yadav deputed police officers to verify the charges and conduct an inquiry. After seeking complaints from two parents, the SSP sent Pukazi SHO Vinod Kumar Singh to the police lines as punishment.
As per the police sources, the SHO was sent to police lines on charges of delay in initiating action in the case. Two parents had given their complaint in this regard and a case under Section 354 of the IPC and Pocso Act had been registered against the two school owners.
The FIR has been registered against Yogesh Kumar, the operator of Surya Dev Public School, Bhopa, and Arjun Singh, the operator of GGS International School Purkaji.
The sources claimed that one of the school owners was held and raids were being conducted to arrest the other accused. Investigation was in progress to verify the charges as parents of 15 girls had not given any complaint so far.
