Unnao: M is attending the same school where she was allegedly sexually harassed nearly two years ago by the headmaster. But not for long. The family is waiting for the academic year to be over before they can send her to a different school. The accused principal has returned. And the family can no longer take the “embarrassment”. For them, the case is settled.
“Everything is final now, what is left in that case? My child goes to school and comes back. What has happened has happened, nobody can fight and there is no gain (in fighting),” said the mother of the girl about the case that turned on its head nearly six months after the allegations first surfaced.
But a change in school for M will happen only after a transfer certificate is issued by the current school.
“If she doesn’t get a transfer certificate, how will we transfer her to another school?” her mother said. Now in class VII, M had admitted to being sexually assaulted before police and the NCPCR team in November 2023 along with 16 other girls. But the case collapsed after 15 of the 17 students who gave video statements before the NCPCR team and later the police, backtracked before a judicial magistrate. And two students refused to go to the court itself. Instead, some of them even told the judge that the “headmaster treated them well,” according to members of the Unnao Child Welfare Committee.
Nearly nine months after the headmaster returned to the school in Unnao’s Sarosi village, the sexual assault case is a hush topic in the village. Neither parents, nor the students want to recount the incident. At least eight girls, who backtracked from their statement, have changed their schools. Parents allege the case was “managed”, they didn’t receive enough support and confidence from the system, and correct legal processes were not followed. The Special Juvenile Police Unit of the local police was not involved in the recording of the statements and the NCPCR chose to make two cooks employed at the school as complainants, making the case weak.
“I think it’s (bringing back the teacher) a serious administrative error. And what has happened to the children is obviously very serious,” said former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, adding that the headmaster seems to be rather influential in the area. “The CWC should be far more proactive and contact the children, counsel them and record their statements again.”
Meanwhile, accused headmaster Rajesh Kumar blamed the NCPCR team for “recording the children’s statements without their knowledge”. “I was not there in the school when the team from Delhi had arrived and spoke to the children in a closed room. They got some copies signed (by the children), the children didn’t even know what they were signing. My social reputation has been spoiled.”
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‘Took the children to the court one by one’
In November 2023, police arrived at 12-year-old N’s house and told her mother the girl would have to visit the court for a recording of the statement. “I started to shiver,” said N’s mother.
The girl’s father said they felt they were alone in the fight.
“It is not possible to get justice when you are alone. They took the children to the court one by one. Had everyone been together, justice would have been possible. But everything was managed,” he said.
The elder sister of another teenager who had testified before the court but backtracked from her statement, said that the parents needed support from fellow parents for recording the children’s statement.
I think it’s (bringing back the teacher) a serious administrative error. And what has happened to the children is obviously very serious.
Madan B Lokur, former Supreme Court judge
“Parents of some children were not comfortable with the idea of sending their child alone to the court for testimony. They kept waiting for other parents to come forward and take their children to testify as well. They (parents) kept looking at each other (for support). Parents are not at fault, they just got scared,” she said.
The teenager’s mother said that all children should have been collectively interviewed and only then it could be considered whether they were telling the truth.
She also acknowledged that social stigma plays a role in wanting the case to be wrapped up.
“This is a village. If a fight breaks out in one house, everyone staying in all four directions gets to know about it, so people ask about who fought and why. Nothing remains hidden. Disrepute is not a good thing,” she said.
It is not possible to get justice when you are alone. They took the children to the court one by one. Had everyone been together, justice would have been possible. But everything was managed.
Father of a girl student who was allegedly assaulted
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No SJPU involved
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act states that “a magistrate shall record the statement of a child in the presence of parents/guardian and/or any other person in whom the child has trust or confidence.”
Justice Lokur said that the Special Juvenile Police Unit of the local police should have been involved in the process and not just any policeman or policewoman.
“It appears that the SJPU was not involved and the CWC was sidelined and the children and their family have to pay the price of the concerned authorities not following the correct legal process,” he said.
The SJPU was not involved in the recording of the children’s statements. In fact, most police officers involved in the supervision of the case claimed they didn’t know which officer was nominated to be part of the SJPU at the Kotwali police station when the incident took place.
An SJPU is a unit of the district police force or any other police force like the railway police, dealing with children and designated as such for handling children under Section 107 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015. It handles both children in conflict with law and the children in need of care and protection and works as a watchdog for protecting children against any form of exploitation, cruelty, and abuse.
“The sub-inspector in charge of the area was investigating the case. I don’t know if he was part of the SJPU,” Unnao Kotwali station house officer Pramod Mishra said.
Ashutosh Kumar, who was in-charge of the area where the alleged crime took place and who had been monitoring the case, is now posted as ACP (Kotwali) in Kanpur. He said that sub-inspector Shyam Sunder Dubey was handed over the investigation as he was in charge of the Sarosi police post back then. He (Kumar) said he did not remember if he was part of the SJPU.
A senior Unnao police officer confirmed that the SJPU of the district is currently headed by additional SP (south) Prem Chand and a sub-inspector rank officer from each police station is a part of the unit.
Siddharth Shanker Meena, Prayagraj DCP (Kumbh/crime), who was the Unnao SP at the time the case was closed, said that all the legal processes were followed when the NCPCR team visited the school to talk to the students.
“I have been transferred from that district five months back. Since I don’t have the files in front of me, I cannot comment on the nitty-gritty of the matter,” he said.
With the case closed, the investigating officers said some students had blamed a teacher for influencing them to speak against the principal.
“Some of the students said they gave statements against the headmaster under a teacher’s influence,” said Unnao Kotwali inspector (crime) Rajesh Yadav who was assigned the case after the transfer of sub-inspector Shyam Sunder Dubey.
ThePrint contacted the teachers of the school, including the one mentioned above, but none of them were willing to speak. They fear backlash.
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Complainants who made the case weak
When the NCPCR team arrived at the school on 25 November 2023 to record the video statements of the students, its members were accompanied by the chairperson Preeti Singh and members of the Unnao Child Welfare Committee. An FIR was lodged against the accused under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 294 (obscene acts and songs) and sections 9 and 10 of the POCSO Act and the headmaster was arrested two days later.
The NCPCR team was led by its member Preeti Bhardwaj who had later prepared a report, which was submitted to the chairperson of the commission.
When ThePrint reached out to Bhardwaj in December this year, she did not know the headmaster had returned. She said she would seek an action taken report from the local authorities.
The CWC members who had accompanied Bhardwaj’s team when the students’ statements were recorded before the judicial magistrate under CrPC 164, said that the children backtracked despite counselling by the CWC members.
“We had counselled the parents and the children a lot. To us, they said that they would not change their statements but did so before the magistrate,” said Preeti Singh.
Upendra Tiwari, member of the Unnao CWC said the parents felt they would not be able to make trips to the court.
“The statements of the children were recorded under IPC 161 at the school itself. In their statements, the children admitted to the sexual assault and the circle officer had arrested the headmaster. But when the students were produced before a judicial magistrate between 30 November and 2 December 2023, all of them denied the allegations. Most parents are illiterate and didn’t want to get into any legal trouble. They realised that they would have to hire a lawyer. Who would have given money for it?” he said.
A senior district administration official said that the NCPCR team also erred by making the cooks employed at the school the complainants in the case.
“After the NCPCR recorded the statements of the children, the cooks deployed in the school were made complainants in the case. It should not have been done because the cooks are poor and illiterate. The team members or the police should have become the complainant,” the official said.
In their statements before the police under CrPC 161, the cooks at first had admitted that the students confided in them about the alleged incidents of sexual assault at the hands of the headmaster. But when the police lodged a final report in the court in connection with the case in May 2024, the three cooks presented themselves before the court and said that they wanted to close the case. None of the three opposed the final report lodged by the police. When a final report is lodged, the complaint can either accept the final report or oppose it.
When ThePrint had contacted the three cooks in November 2023, they first very upset that they were made the complainants and wondered how they would participate in the long drawn legal proceedings.
“We are very poor, how can we get involved in all of this? Police or government officials should take it forward, why involve us?,” one of them had said.
Unnao district probation officer (DPO) Chavanath Rai said that he had accompanied the NCPCR team when it arrived at the Unnao school but the final report—a precursor to the closure of the case—was filed before the Unnao court after the children backtracked from their statements in court. When a final report is lodged, the court can close the case after taking cognisance of the same. The court can also reopen the case if it is not satisfied with the investigation, something which happened in the infamous Aarushi murder case. It’s the court that closes the case, not the police. So technically, the police can only file a “final report” in a case and the court will decide if the case will be closed or not. There is no “closure report” as such.
“The cooks, who earn a meagre salary of about Rs. 2000 per month, were the complainants in the case. The children turned hostile. The accused remained in jail for days but later a final report was lodged in the case due to no evidence being found,” he said.
15-year-old A, who had bravely warded off the sexual advances of the headmaster when he allegedly tried to kiss her at school in 2023 doesn’t want to talk about the case now. As for her mother, she prefers silence over stigma.
“Gade murde ukhadhne se koi faayda nahi, kuch nahi hota. Kewal badnami hoti hai”—there is no point raking up old issues, nothing happens. It only brings dishonour.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)
It seems like the powerful people can do any crime and will never be punished. This is BJP’s governance. DARINDE HAIN YEH LOG!