Daringbadi: In a new twist to the case related to the molestation of a Class VIII girl by a high school headmaster in this block of Kandhamal district, the victim Monday refuted reports of molestation and accused the headmaster of raping her.
Seeking the intervention of the district superintendent of police in arresting the accused, the girl approached the SP personally and revealed the entire matter before the media at the SP’s office in Phulbani.
In her complaint, the victim accused the Daringbadi police of shielding the accused and not arresting him even after a week of the crime. However, after learning the ‘truth’ from the victim, SP Pratik Singh assured her of immediate action against the accused HM.
According to the victim, she was studying in Class VIII and resided in the school hostel. On the fateful day, the HM called all the girl inmates and asked them to work in the school garden. Later, he called the victim along with two of her friends to clean utensils at his resident.
After sometime, he sent her friends away and asked the girl to stay on the pretext of more work. While the victim was busy cleaning the house, the accused bolted the door and held her captive. When the girl shouted for help, he gagged her and put her on his bed forcing himself upon her.
“I cried and pleaded with him to leave me, but to no avail. He had turned into a monster and kept raping me,” the girl stated. Later, he threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident to anyone.
Soon after this, the girl fled the school hostel and took a bus to her village. She was afraid of revealing the incident to her parents, and so approached her sister and narrated her ordeal.
Later, the girl’s father lodged a written complaint with Darigbadi police. Although a week has passed since then, police are yet to arrest the HM.
When contacted, the investigating officer Chandrika Swain said that a probe was on and the HM would be arrested soon.
