BHUBANESWAR: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has directed the State government to investigate the allegation of sexual exploitation of minors in the school run by Gobinda Sahu, the prime accused in the Mamita Meher murder case.
While the State police is allegedly mum on the allegation and claimed to have been investigating the murder of the 24-year-old lady teacher, the direction of the apex body for protection of child rights has put them in a dock.
Taking cognizance of a complaint regarding sexual exploitation of minors in Sunshine English Medium School at Mahaling where Mamita was a teacher, the Commission has asked Balangir police to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within five days.
Minister of State Dibya Shankar Mishra has also been named in the letter sent by NCPCR Registrar Anu Chaudhary to Balangir SP. It was alleged that Sahu, the owner of the school had sexually exploited minor students.
“The sexual activities were done inside a separate room by Sahu. He used to tempt the girls for good marks in examinations and BJD’s Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra used to visit the school frequently,” the letter to Balangir SP stated.
As girls as well as boys were targeted in the activity of exploitation, the Commission mandated to monitor the implementation of POCSO Act under section 44 of the Act and Rule 12 of POCSO Rules 2020, has asked the police to conduct a detailed probe into the matter in accordance with the POCSO Act, 2012.
Besides asking not to disclose the identity of the victims during the process of investigation, the NCPCR has sought the copies of FIR, medico-legal report (MLR), statements of the victims and orders of CWC in respect of the case.
The Commission has also wanted to know whether any action has been taken against the accused, involvement of school authority, how many girls and boys are studying in the school and the age group of students who were sexually exploited.
Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had directed DGP Abhay to ensure a fair investigation into the matter. The Odisha State Commission for Women (OSCW) had also served a notice to SPs of Balangir and Kalahandi districts asking them to submit a probe report within 15 days.