Office subordinate of a State-run school arrested in sexual harassment and assault case, school HM suspended

A 30-year-old office subordinate of a government school in Gangadhara mandal has been arrested by the police in Karimnagar on Tuesday (October 28), a day after reports of sexual harassment and assault of four girl students of the school came to light.

Chilling details of the case have surfaced following the arrest of the accused, identified as Md. Yakoob Pasha, for allegedly sexually abusing the minor girls on the premises of the school over the last couple of months.

Making matters worse, the Headmistress of the school allegedly asked the school staff to conceal the incident, forcing the aggrieved minor girls to endure the trauma in silence, sources said.

Her gross negligence in discharging her designated duties of ensuring safety and security of students resulted in a severe breach of child safety and protection. This has prompted the district authorities to suspend her with immediate effect.

The accused allegedly morphed the pictures of the girl students taken during the school annual day function to blackmail them in perpetrating sexual abuse. He allegedly threatened the victims not to speak about the offence.

The incident sparked outrage with the parents of the aggrieved girl students and leaders across the political spectrum demanding stern action against the accused. It also laid bare the glaring lacune in the supervisory mechanism tasked with the administration of the government schools.

Speaking to the media in Karimnagar on Tuesday, Karimnagar Police Commissioner Gaush Alam said school office subordinate Yakoob Pasha has been found to be involved in sexual assault and harassment of four minor girls.

The accused has been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and IT Act.

The Headmistress of the school, despite coming to know about the incident, did not inform the higher authorities or the police about it earlier, he said, adding that failure to report sexual harassment and assulat of children is a punishable offence under Section 21 of the POCSO Act.

Further investigation is underway to probe criminal culpability of the persons concerned and to ensure stringent punishment to the accused as per law.