The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday took note of media reports about local youths thrashing 34 girl students in Bihar's Supaul district on October 6 when the students opposed their sexual advances and lewd comments.
The Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the state Director General of Police, calling for a detailed report in the matter including status of medical treatment of the injured students, measures taken to step up security at the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) hostel and action taken against those named in the complaint.
Their tormentors allegedly included students of the adjacent Middle School and their parents. The mob reportedly had a free run, vandalizing the school which is exclusively for the girls belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and minority communities.
The Commission has also observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, amount to violation of human rights of the victim girls. Going by the reports, it is apparent from the sequence of incident that there was a serious security lapse at the girls' school, where the miscreants entered at their free will, committed the brutal act and fled, it said.
As per media reports, the District Magistrate, Supaul has reportedly narrated the sequence of events that some of the girls confronted a few local youths and some Middle School students for writing vulgar messages on the school's wall.
Both KGBV and the Middle School are on the same campus with separate buildings, but a common playground. The youths sexually harassed the girl students following which the girls beat them up.
Later in the evening, the boys called their parents and got the girls beaten up with sticks and rods.
It is mentioned in the reports that the injured girl students were first taken to a primary health centre. But they were reportedly so badly injured that two of them had to be taken to Supaul Sadar Hospital, while 32 other students of Class VI to VIII were sent to Triveniganj Referral Hospital.
The warden alerted the security guard and called up the local administration but the accused were able to flee.
The Superintendent of Police, Supaul has reportedly stated that KGBV authorities have named nine people in their complaint and two of them have been arrested.
Four persons have been detained for interrogation while others are absconding.
--IANS
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