Rohtak: School principal held for sexual harassment of Class 12 student

Police arrested the accused on Tuesday evening from Kalanaur in the Rohtak district.

A government school principal was arrested on Wednesday from Haryana’s Rohtak for allegedly sexually harassing a Class 12 student. The case is the fifth such incident reported in the schools in the state since July last year.

SHO Singh also said a phone video clip of the principal “harassing the girl student” has been recovered by the police. (Representational image)

Police arrested the accused on Tuesday evening from Kalanaur in the Rohtak district. He was produced in court on Wednesday and sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

The information came to light on Tuesday evening after the 19-year-old student approached police to register a complaint.

The principal has been booked under sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force against women with intent to outrage modesty) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), said Kalanaur police station house officer Satpal Singh.

In the first information report (FIR), seen by HT, the student said that, on January 6, as she attended a National Service Scheme camp at her school, the principal asked her to bring a notebook from his office.

As she was on the way to the office, he chased her down and touched her “inappropriately”. He then allegedly threatened to rusticate her if she told anyone what happened.

“Due to fear of rustication, I remained silent and today I revealed the incident to my parents,” she said.

SHO Singh also said a phone video clip of the principal “harassing the girl student” has been recovered by the police.

Rohtak Child Welfare Committee chairperson Satish Sharma said, “The fact that so many cases are surfacing in the state is a matter of concern and we take these incidents very seriously.”

“Many offenders threaten the victims and parents and schools need to provide a safe space to the children to be able to report the incidents. Role of parents is important and they should take feedback from their children on a daily basis,” he added.