The Tribune, February 19, 2005

Minor raped: principal, 3 others remanded
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 18
A city court today remanded the principals of the two government schools and their two associates to 14-day judicial custody, for allegedly gangraping a teenaged girl in the Samaipur Badli area of north-west Delhi. Metropolitan Magistrate M. K.Gupta remanded the principals Om Prakash Sharma (58) and Ved Prakash Sharma (52) and associates Om Prakash (45) and Jagdish (35), both businessmen, for their involvement.

The school students, their parents and teachers of various schools have widely condemned the rape incident of a 16-year-old student involving a Principal of a government school, Vice-Principal of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, West Patel Nagar, and their two businessmen friends. Some parents of the students have expressed shock over the involvement of top authorities of the two schools. "If Principals and Vice-Principals are committing such offences then who can we believe and where can we send our children for education ?," questioned the mother of a student. The accused had lured the victim to a Haryana guesthouse in the Samaipur Badli area, in the North-West district, last week and raped her the entire night.

They then left the victim the next morning and threatened her of dire consequences if she disclosed the incident to anyone. But sensing something serious, when her parents insisted on knowing about her whereabouts in the night, the victim broke down and narrated the incident to her parents. The victim's father works as a gate keeper in a factory. The victim's brother after consulting a lawyer in the Tis Hazari Court, later lodged a complaint with the police and the accused were arrested. The medical examination of the victim also confirmed that she had been raped.

The accused took the girl in the car to the guesthouse on the pretext of arranging her a certificate for the board exams. The accused was accompanied by Vice-Principal Ved Prakash Sharma (52), and their businessmen friends Jagdish (35) and Om Prakash (45), were joined later in the guest house.