Police suspend 5 over girls’ molestation
Opposition criticises government for failing to protect girls in Bihar
Authorities in Bihar have put five policemen under suspension and announced a probe against them after 93 schoolgirls were allegedly molested and sexually harassed while travelling by train.
The victims were returning to their homes in neighbouring Jharkhand state after participating in an environment conference when the alleged incident occurred.
“We have placed the entire escort party comprising an inspector and four policemen under suspension for dereliction of duty and efforts are on to also start departmental proceedings against them,” superintendent of police ( railway), Patna, Upendra Kumar Sinha told the media yesterday.
“They [ suspended officers] were supposed to help the schoolgirls board the train and take their reserved seats, having been forcibly occupied by the men, but they could not. They showed their gross negligence even though the schoolgirls had requested them [ to intervene],” Sinha told the media, adding the schoolgirls had to face a lot of inconvenience owing to the utter negligence of the cops.
The action came after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar asked railway officials to urgently inquire into the matter and initiate action against the people concerned.
Strongly criticised
Opposition parties in Bihar have strongly criticised the state government for failing to protect the schoolgirls.
“This is very shocking, and the entire state is now ashamed of what has happened to over five dozen schoolgirls travelling in a train,” senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi told the media in Patna yesterday.
“The incident has exposed the Nitish Kumar government’s tall claim of having established rule of law in Bihar,” he added.
Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi also lashed out at the government over the incident.
“What better explains the prevailing state of lawlessness in Bihar than the open harassment of the schoolgirls on a train?” asked Devi, who is wife of incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad.
A group of 93 schoolgirls from two convent schools in neighbouring Jharkhand state were returning home by train when a group of men allegedly molested and sexually harassed them.