Cuttack, April 25: Orissa High Court has directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 50,000 within two weeks to the Class IX student of Ramchandrapur Government Girls’ High School in Balangir, who was allegedly raped by two teachers on July 22 last year.
The court had registered the PIL on the basis of a letter seeking intervention for preventing such “recurring phenomenon”. Advocate and human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das had submitted the letter petition.
The petition sought high court intervention to ensure protection, compensation, rehabilitation and resumption of studies of the victim minor girl student. The girl was abandoned by the district administration after the incident and she had to leave the school and discontinue her studies.
Yesterday, the division bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice S.K. Mishra further directed the district welfare officer to ensure admission of the girl in the next academic session in a school near her house.
Chargesheet in the case was filed on November 5 last against the two teachers, who had allegedly raped the minor girl and the case is pending before the Court of Sessions Judge, Balangir.
Taking note of the affidavit, the court further directed police to register the case under the Scheduled Case & Scheduled Tribe (Protection of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and file a supplementary chargesheet.
The petition has sought “necessary orders and guidelines for prevention of sexual exploitation / rape of minor tribal girls by male teachers in the government run residential schools”. Das suggested direction for engagement of only female teachers / staff in girls’ hostels, periodic visit by female members of the local panchayati raj institutions, the District Child Welfare Committee and the Odisha Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
The petitioner had cited three incidents in Balangir, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts related to which FIRs had been registered at local police stations and the cases were pending in the local courts. “The incidents are the tip of the iceberg. Many such incidents do not come to public knowledge because the victims, who hail from socially and economically disadvantaged section of the society, suffer from great disability to face the perpetrators of such heinous crimes. The fear of social stigma and fear of their academic career getting ruined handicap the victims,” the petition alleged.
“Even if the victims muster courage to approach the authorities to bring the culprits to book, they face many obstacles and often become victims of indifference, callousness and apathy of the state,” he contended.
