GUWAHATI
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Arunachal Pradesh police has filed a charge sheet against a former hostel warden of a government-run residential school accused of raping and sexually harassing 21 children, including six boys.
Rohit Rajbir Singh, the Superintendent of Police of SIT said Yumken Bagra was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code read with four sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Another person named D. Pertin was also booked under Section 212 of the IPC for harbouring the accused.
The 33-year-old Bagra, from Tadin village in the West Siang district, was arrested in the State’s capital Itanagar on November 13, 2022, but was released after a local court granted him bail.
The police began investigating after a man lodged a complaint in the Shi-Yomi district’s Monigong police station on November 1, 2022. The man said Bagra had sexually assaulted, harassed, molested, and attempted to rape his 12-year-old twin daughters at the residential school.
The case was later transferred to the SIT.
Investigations revealed that Bagra had allegedly preyed on 21 children from 2014 to 2022 and his victims were 6-14 years old. Of the 21 victims, six were boys.
According to the charge sheet, he is guilty of six cases of aggravated penetrative assault or rape, nine cases of molestation including two cases of attempted rape, and six cases of sexual harassment.
“Following the investigation, the police recovered sexually explicit photos and videos found in the phone of the accused. Medicines containing antihistamine drugs were seized from the place of occurrence,” Mr Singh said.
The medicines were fed to the victims before the crime was committed, he added.
“The investigation revealed that there were six attempts by the victims to commit suicide and the accused had threatened to kill the minors if they disclosed anything to anyone,” Mr Singh said.
“Though the accused has been granted bail, the police are trying to persuade the court to initiate the trial as soon as possible as the accused has already been charge-sheeted and we have all substantiating proofs against him,” the SP said.
The police said escort and other forms of support would be provided to the victims once the trial starts. They also appealed to the child welfare boards, NGOs and civil society groups to help the victims recover from the trauma and provide them with moral support.
