261 girls flee from govt school hostel to escape sexual harassment - Hindustan Times
All 261 students of a government-run girls’ residential school fled their hostel in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan district to escape alleged sexual harassment by a local youth over several days, police said on Friday. The incident took place in Ichagarh’s Kasturba Gandhi Girls’ Residential School, one of the more than 2,500 similar schools run by the government across the country to ensure education for girls in tribal and backward areas. In 2013, four minor tribal girls were abducted from their hostel and gang-raped by a group of men in the state’s Pakur district, sending shockwaves through the country. The Seraikela-Kharswan deputy commissioner Chandrasekhar said he has called a meeting at the school on Sunday to find a solution after the regional education officer (REO) Awdesh Ram on Friday failed to convince the guardians to send back their... The sub-divisional officer (SDO) Archana Mehta visited the hostel on August 19 following which police detained several youth of the locality for interrogation, he said. We will ensure security of the girls and take stringent action against the accused,” the DC told HT. Sources said that the school hostel, about 60km from here, has no boundary wall. Source: www.hindustantimes.com
