Hostel chief held for molesting 2 minor tribal girls near Mumbai

One of the girls said Suryakant Bagal would call her to his office at night when the other students in the hostel would be asleep

The superintendent of a government hostel for girls (ashramshala) in Talasari, Palghar, was arrested for allegedly molesting two girl students of Class 10. The hostel is run under the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), Dahanu. The girl’s hostel has no woman superintendent.

The accused, Suryakant Bagal, 35, had been sexually assaulting the girls since December 2017, but the issue came to light only on Friday (Pic for representation)

The accused, Suryakant Bagal, 35, had been sexually assaulting the girls since December 2017, but the issue came to light only on Friday. The parents of the girls reached the hostel along with the parents of other students, and thrashed Bagal, before handing him to the Talasari police.

According to one of the girls, Bagal would call her to his office at night when the other students in the hostel would be asleep, on the pretext of receiving a phone call from the girl’s parents. Bagal would then lock his office from inside, and force the girl to undress. He would also show the girl porn clips on his mobile, and talk to the girl in an obscene language, said Sachin Pandkar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) Dahanu.

Bagal would threaten the victim against revealing the act. He told the girl that he would fail her in the internal exams. The girl kept quiet worrying about the consequences, said Dy SP Pandkar. The issue came to light when one of the girls wrote a letter to her cousin, who then informed her parents about the act.

“We arrested Bagal under Section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code. He is also charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Tribal Atrocity Act. He was produced before the Palghar court and has been remanded to the police custody till March 5. We have also seized the mobile phone which contained the porn clips,” Dy SP Pandkar said.

“There are 12 tribal students of Class ten who are residing at the hostel. So far, we have received complaints from two girls, but we are investigating further to find out if Bagal has molested any other girl,” said Dy SP Pandkar.