Buldhana/Mumbai: Two minor girls were allegedly raped at a government-aided tribal residential school in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district, following which 11 people have been arrested and an SIT has been formed to probe the case as police suspect that more children could have been sexually exploited.
As the shocking incident came to light, police arrested 11 persons, including the main accused who is a 23-year-old school employee, the headmaster, staff and members of the school management, on Thursday night.
District Guardian Minister Pandurang Phundkar, who is camping in his constituency (Khamgaon) to monitor the progress of the investigations, said that so far two girls have came forward with complaints of alleged abuse. Former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse was approached recently by the family of one of the victims who hailed from his Assembly constituency.
Khadse informed Phundkar, who then asked police to look into the matter. A Special Investigative Team (SIT), headed by a senior IPS officer has been formed to investigate this case, Maharashtra DGP Satish Mathur said on Friday. Thirteen people allegedly involved in this incident were identified and 11 have been arrested, the top IPS officer said.
He, however, said that only one girl has complained of rape. “We have taken action immediately after being informed by the local sarpanch,” Mathur told reporters at the state police headquarters here.
“The victim has named one person. Investigation is underway,” the police official said. Those arrested include staff members of the school who did not bring this incident to notice of police, Mathur said.
Maharashtra has more than 1,000 residential schools called ashram shalas which are run either directly by the state government or by trusts supported by the state government through grant in aid.Around 4.45 lakh students are studying in these schools, out of which 1.99 lakh are girls.
The main accused has been charged under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, Buldhana Superintendent of Police Sanjay Baviskar said.
The others arrested have booked under various relevant sections of IPC, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and SC/ST Atrocities Act. (PTI)
