Haryana School Principal Arrested for Alleged Sexual Harassment of Over 50 Students

Haryana: The principal of a government school in Haryana’s Jind district has been apprehended on charges of alleged sexual harassment involving more than 50 female students, according to local authorities. The arrest took place on Saturday following a five-day pursuit of the accused principal by a Special Investigation Team headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police, Amit Kumar Bhatia. The team plans to seek his police remand for further inquiry after presenting him in a Jind court.

Earlier, the Haryana State Commission for Women had disclosed that over 50 female students at the government school in Jind had accused the principal of sexual harassment. The school principal had been suspended by the Jind administration before the arrest, which transpired after the State Commission for Women received 60 written complaints from the female students. Out of these, 50 complaints detailed physical abuse perpetrated by the accused, while 10 others expressed awareness of the principal’s inappropriate behaviour.

The Jind district police filed charges against the principal under Sections 354-A (sexual harassment), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code, in addition to the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. All complainants were minors, and they alleged that the accused had summoned them to his office and engaged in indecent acts.

In a distressing turn of events, a group of students from the same school had reportedly written letters to the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Commission for Women to share their experiences. The nature of the allegations made by the female students involved the principal engaging in inappropriate behaviour with them, as stated by Jind Deputy Commissioner Mohd Imran Raza.