Many shocking facts have come to light in the case related to the gangrape of a minor girl in a boarding school in Dehradun, allegedly by her seniors. The victim had been harassed by the school authorities for about one month after the matter was brought to their notice.

And when a primary investigation team of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) reached the School on 9 September night, it had to struggle to get details due to the silence maintained by the girl. The team got a breakthrough after the school staff were interrogated and one of them hinted about a “small incident of molestation” having taken place in the school.

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It was this vital link that helped the CWC expose the incident. The school, located in the outskirts of Dehradun at Bhauwala, has been shut since Monday. Local organisations are staging a protest outside the school gate almost daily.

More trouble is in store for the school as Uttarakhand Education Secretary Bhupendra Kaur Aulakh has approached the Central Board of School Education seeking to cancel its affiliation.

In her letter, the education secretary has mentioned about the departmental team inspecting the school and finding many shortcomings. She pointed out that no CCTV camera was installed in the campus.

Kavita Sharma, the chairperson of Dehradun district’s Child Welfare Committee, said, “We reached the school at 9 pm on Sunday and interacted with the victim. The girl was under some pressure and was silent most of the times.

While interrogating one staff told us that a small molestation incident took place against the girl. We took the girl in confidence by telling her that we know the fact. The girl used ‘yes’ and ‘no’ words only to help us make a rough outline of the incident.”

The CWC went to the school acting suo motu on a report published in a local newspaper. The Class X girl had been raped, allegedly by a few senior students, in the school storeroom on 14 August.

She was allegedly harassed when she told the school management about the incident. To cover up the crime, especially after the victim got pregnant, the school management allegedly worked out a plan.

According to the police, they took the girl to a private nursing home for a medical checkup where a school staff posed as her father and a female staff acted as a mother. The school staff even provided abortion pills to the victim, said the police.

The Uttarakhand Police conducted a medical examination of the girl at a government hospital in Dehradun and the report was received on Wednesday. The report confirmed rape.

The Uttarakhand Police have already arrested four boys and five members of the school administration in connection with the case. For over one month, the school management had taken no action against the culprit boys and allegedly made all efforts to cover up the incident and create pressure on the victim.

The police have registered a case of gang-rape, criminal conspiracy, causing the disappearance of evidence and Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) against the arrested persons.

After the girl was provided pills for abortion, she had reportedly shared her plight with her sister, also studying in the same school. The sister then informed their parents who eventually lodged a complaint at the Sehaspur police station.

The nine arrests were made on Monday. Those arrested are school director Lata Gupta, principal Jitendra Sharma, chief administrative officer Deepak Malhotra, Tanu Mullick and hostel help Manju.

The group running the school also operates a management institute, a polytechnic, a pharmacy institute, and a girls’ degree college.