30 schoolgirls thrashed, hurt for resisting harassment

Tejashwi slams Nitish govt for failing to maintain law, order

At least 30 minor girls of a residential school in Bihar’s Supaul district were beaten up by a mob broke into the premises after they protested against lewd comments on a wall allegedly written by boys of a neighbouring school and resisted eve- teasing and sexual harassment, the police said on Sunday.

Three persons, including a woman, have been arrested following the registration of an FIR that named nine persons as accused, said superintendent of police Mrityunjay Kumar Choudhary.

All the injured girls are students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya ( KGBV) in Darpakha village in Supaul.

Over two dozen local villagers ransacked the school and thrashed the girls when they tried to raise their voices against eve- teasing and sexual harassment

The Nitish Kumar- led NDA government facing attack over rising cases of crime against women in Bihar was in for another setback after a group of female students were beaten for resisting eve- teasing and sexual harassment in Bihar’s Supaul district.

The police said that over 30 girl students, who sustained injuries in the attack, were later admitted to a local hospital for treatment. The district administration also claimed that “one person has been taken into custody. Others involved in the case have also been identified and will be arrested soon.”

Sources from Supaul informed this newspaper that youth from a nearby village used to pass lewd remarks and write vulgar comments about girls on the school wall. On Saturday, over two dozen local villagers ransacked the school and thrashed the girls when they tried to raise their voices against the issue.

“Girls were beaten up by villagers while they were playing on Saturday. The villagers were furious because these girls tried to raise their voices against the harassment they faced on a regular basis,” school sources said.

The issue has snowballed into a political controversy as Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav blamed the state government

on Sunday for its failure in maintaining law and order in the state.

In a tweet, he said that anti- social elements ransacked the Kasturba Gandhi Girls School in Supaul and thrashed 34 students.

“The state government is silent and the crime graph is rising in Bihar. This kind of incident keeps happening because the chief minister personally interferes and ensures that rapists and perpetrators get a free run. In majority of the cases, his partymen, lawmakers, and office bearers are main culprits. Honest officers, who have been taking action against them, are often transferred,” he said.

Earlier this year, cases of sexual abuse inside several government- funded shelter homes had rocked the state.

In a Muzaffarpur- based shelter home, over 34 minor girls in their statement to the police said that they were raped by officials and employees of the facility.

In another case, around 15 minors living in Bodh Gaya monastery were molested by a monk.