The Sagar police have registered a case against H.P. Manjappa, who runs a private school in the town, on charges of sexually harassing minor girls.
The police have booked a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, besides the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
A woman, native of Sorab taluk, filed a complaint, alleging that the accused sexually harassed her daughter and four other girls in the residential school. The complainant’s 14-year-old daughter died on June 8.
The police had initially recorded it as unnatural death. Later, the girl’s parents learnt that the girl had developed health complications and that Manjappa had applied some medicine and also allegedly forced her to drink more than a bucket full of water. The girl’s parents and relatives staged a protest in front of the hostel in Sagar on Saturday, demanding strict action against Manjappa.
During the protest, four students alleged that the accused sexually harassed them as well. Members of the Child Welfare Committee recorded the girls’ statement and informed the police. Based on the fresh statements, the police registered a case and arrested the accused.
Manjappa has been running the school, which also has a hostel, for the past several years.
As many as 21 girls were admitted to the hostel. Of them, one girl died, and four returned home after the girl’s death. M.V. Prathibha, member of the CWC, told The Hindu that four girls, who had returned home, would be accommodated in another hostel close to their place. “The CWC will interact with the remaining children and accommodate them in other hostels and schools after consulting their parents,” she said.
S.G. Sreenivas, Deputy Director of Social Welfare Department, who visited Sagar on Saturday, said that the department would accommodate the girls of the hostel in government residential schools. “I have told the parents that the students would be accommodated in department-run residential schools,” he said.
