CRPF officer denies charges
SHILLONG: Members of several pressure groups and civil societies in Garo Hills will hold a rally on Tuesday in protest against the rape of two high school students of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Tura.
The members of GSU, FAF, FKJGP, ADE and AYWO, in a letter to Minister in charge of School Education and Literacy Deborah C. Marak, condemned the incident saying sexual abuse of minors is a “serious issue” and the accused must be “severely punished”.
The groups also condemned the female teacher at KV Tura for “diluting facts” and putting pressure on the girls to keep the matter under wraps. “We urge you to ensure that justice is meted out (to the victims) and corrective measures are taken. We do not make these demands lightly because we will continue to agitate till the victims get justice. We will not be patient if the accused teachers come back to teach the students,” said a statement issued on Sunday.
Talking about the role of the CRPF officer, R.K Behera, they said the man, though not directly involved in sexually abusing the girl, had helped the other accused.
However, in a statement issued here on Sunday, Behera, who is one of the members of the Vidyalaya Management Committee, while denying any role in the episode, said he got a call from acting principal Yogesh Joshi around 2pm on September 29.
“He told me he was in big trouble and urged me to come to the school. I was going to have lunch, but thought it would be an urgent matter related to the ongoing examinations at the Vidyalaya. So I went to the school with an officer, S.K Yadav, Inspector Rajkumar, Head Constable (GD) Dinesh and HC/DVR Rajeev in a vehicle provided by the civil police,” he said.
Behera’s daughter is also a student of the school and studies in Class IX. He further said on reaching the school, Joshi told him that both he (Joshi) and Deepjyoti Das, another accused, were framed in a sexual harassment case.
“After that, SI B. Thapa came to the spot and I prepared to leave for office. “But the students had by then closed the main gate. So I told them that I did not come here to help Joshi but to help them and my daughter who is in this school,” Behera said on Sunday.
However, the pressure groups on Sunday raised some pertinent questions like why a few students were asked to come to the teachers’ quarters for a birthday party and why not the entire class was invited. Why was the birthday of the acting principal not celebrated in the classroom.