Patna: Students of a residential school for girls in Bihar’s Supaul district were thrashed when they tried to oppose a bid to sexually harass them, police said Sunday.
The incident happened when a group of youths forcibly entered the Kasturba Awasiya Balika Vidyalay Saturday evening with the intention of molesting the girls.
In the ensuing fracas, 34 girls were injured and have been admitted to a hospital.
“Action will be taken against the accused and security arrangements will be made at the school,” District Magistrate Baidyanath Yadav said.
A case has been registered, said Vinay Kumar, a district official. The accused have been identified, but no arrests have been made as yet.
According to a complaint lodged in this connection with the police, youths from a nearby village were regularly harassing the girls. They would pass lewd remarks and write vulgar comments on the school wall, but no action was taken against them even after the girls complained about it to the school administration.
Some girls caught a youth who was trying to write a vulgar comment on the school wall Saturday. Seeing this, they scolded him.
However, after some time, a mob of about two dozen people, armed with sticks, attacked the school.
The girls were going out to play in the evening when they were attacked. They were kicked and beaten with canes, said Reema Raj, warden of the school.
The ruckus inside the school continued for an hour. The girls were brutally beaten. Many received wounds and were bleeding. The school property was also vandalised.
On being informed, the local administration reached the school and the students were taken to the nearby primary health centre for treatment.
District Education Officer of Supaul has assured that strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.