Patna: News media in the Bihar state capital have focussed on growing incidents of girls being raped and molested, the most disgusting report to date being the repeated sexual attacks of a 16-year-old student within the school premises.

The state police headquarters has taken serious note of yet another gang rape-and-video blackmail case, this time of a Class X student in a private school in Saran, and sought an ‘action taken report’ from the superintendent of police of Saran district.

The survivor had lodged a complaint with the Saran women’s police station on Friday (June 6), stating that she had been forced into sex by 15 male students, the principal and two teachers of Dipeshwar Bal Vidya Niketan, Parsagarh in Saran since December last year. Police have recorded  an FIR that has named 18 persons in connection with the complaint.

Additional director-general (headquarters) S.K. Singhal said on Saturday that a special investigation team (SIT) had been formed by Saran superintendent of police Har Kishore Rai to take the case to its logical conclusion.

Till Saturday evening, six of the accused – principal Uday Kumar Singh, one teacher, Balaji, and four students, all minors – have been arrested. Raids are on to nab the others, including one teacher, involved in the crime.

In the student’s complaint, it is stated that in December last year five male students of the school raped her in the school toilet and made a video of the incident with their mobile phone. They used the video clip to blackmail her and raped her numerous times in the following months along with some other male students in the school.

The girl was especially vulnerable because her father was serving a jail term in a murder case.

When the girl mustered up the courage to complain to the school principal Uday Singh, he took no action. Instead, the principal turned predator.  “When the video clip reached the principal and two teachers about 17 days later, the trio also started blackmailing the victim and began raping her for months on the school premises,” said a police officer, quoting the survivor’s complaint.

When the girl’s father, who was serving sentence in a murder case, returned home earlier this week on bail, she told him of her plight.

Before lodging the complaint with the police, they went to the school and confronted the principal and the two accused teachers, but they were manhandled and driven out, the police official said.

Singhal said the SP had been told to collect scientific evidence to corroborate the allegations levelled by the survivor. On Saturday (June 7), the girl was produced before a judicial magistrate to record her statement, he said, adding that she was medically examined at the local government Sadar hospital on Friday.

Saran sub-divisional police officer Ajay Kumar Singh said the six arrested accused were produced in the special POCSO court headed by additional district and sessions judge Uday Kumar Upadhyay on Saturday.

While the principal and teacher were remanded to judicial custody at Chhapra divisional jail, the four minors were sent to the district remand home. The POCSO court later issued a directive to ascertain the age of the four juveniles.

The SDPO said the case would be recommended for speedy trial to ensure justice to the survivor. The school has been closed after a police team led by SDPO Ajay Singh visited it and started making inquiries.

Crimes against women have been on the rise in the Bihar. According to official records, 127 women, including minors, were raped in the first three months of the current year. The figures have almost doubled by the end of June.

  Bihar, crime, POCSO