Guwahati: A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Arunachal Pradesh handed death sentence to the former warden of a government residential school for sexually assaulting 21 children, including 15 girls, in Shi-Yomi district.
On Tuesday, the special court pronounced the capital punishment to the prime accused Yumken Bagra, the former warden of the government residential school, after finding him guilty under Sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as Sections 6, 10, and 12 of the POCSO Act.
The court also convicted two others—Marbom Ngomdir, a former Hindi teacher at the school, and Singtung Yorpen, the former school headmaster—in connection with the incidents of sexual abuse that took place between 2019 and 2022, when Bagra was the school warden.
The children—15 girls and six boys, aged 6 to 12 years, and from Classes 1-5—were sexually assaulted and molested by Bagra and others.
Both Marbom Ngomdir and Singtung Yorpen were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for their involvement in the crime. The investigation was initially led by the police teams of Shi-Yomi and West Siang districts, and later taken over by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
The cases came to light only after a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged in November 2022 by a parent of two children. The SIT investigation found that there were six cases of rape, nine cases of molestation, and six other cases of sexual harassment.
The episode had created a furore among the public, with civil society organisations, including the Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society (APWWS), demanding justice and exemplary punishment for the accused.
(Edited by Tony Rai)