AMN / WEB DESK
A 45-year-old principal of a government school was arrested on Thursday night for allegedly molesting four girl students, aged 13 to 15, in Hallikhed village of Bidar district in Karnataka, police said on Sunday.
According to the police, the accused, identified as Nagashetty Kulkarni, had sexually harassed the students on July 7 but a police complaint into the matter was filed by the four survivors on July 20.
Based on the incident, officials close to the developments said that the accused principal will be terminated on Monday.
The accused had been transferred to the school six months ago, said police.
“The principal on July 7 had called the four survivors students to his house on the pretext of giving sweets to one of the girls who was celebrating her birthday. He misbehaved with the four students and touched them inappropriately,” a police official familiar with the matter said on anonymity. According to the complaint, the police official said that the accused reportedly “held the hand of one of the girls in his room, kissed her, and made advances”.
Circle inspector M G Patil from Chitaguppa police station confirmed that they received a complaint from the survivors on July 20 and subsequently a case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
“A separate complaint was also filed by the survivors with the district juvenile justice board on July 21. We took the accused and minor girls for medical examination, leading to the arrest of the principal on Thursday night,” said Patil.
“The accused was presented before the court of judicial magistrate of first class in Chitaguppa on Friday, where he was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days,” he said.
Based on the complaint, deputy commissioner Govinda Reddy had set up a team comprising five women officers to conduct a thorough investigation, said the official quoted above. The police team also visited the school on July 20 and recorded statements of the survivors and compiled a comprehensive report, which has been submitted to the deputy commissioner.
Based on the charges in the report, the deputy commissioner instructed the police to register a case against the accused under the Pocso Act.
Meanwhile, a relative of one of the victims alleged that the principal used to make vulgar jokes at the girl students.
“He used to make vulgar jokes at the students and touched them inappropriately. The harassment had been ongoing for a few months, but the situation escalated on July 7 when he behaved indecently with four girls, leading to the formal complaint,” said the relative, requesting anonymity.
The relative said that the principal had been transferred to the school only six months ago.
In a separate incident, a parish priest and principal of a pre-university college in Shivamogga were booked under the Pocso Act for allegedly harassing a 17-year-old PU student on July 20, said police.