Kalahandi: In a shocking incident, several girl students of a School for the Deaf and Blind in Odisha’s Kalahandi district leveled serious allegations of sexual assault and physical harassment by their hostel warden.
As alleged by the minor deaf and blind girl students, their hostel warden Sandhya Darshan Mohapatra repeatedly molested them for a significant period. But, they were unable to express their ordeal before anyone as actions were taken against them whenever they opened their mouths.
The matter, however, came to the light only when a video of Mohapatra seen misbehaving with one of the students in a dark corner of the school went viral.
In the viral video, the concerned student can be clearly seen trying to save herself from Mohapatra while he was forcefully molesting her.
Taking a serious note of the incident, the district administration initiated an inquiry into the matter by forming a special committee. The concerned officials who reached the school for a probe received several handwritten complaints from them.
Since the students are unable to speak, they informed the officials about the atrocities being committed against them through either gestures or handwriting.
Meanwhile, the local police also registered a case and started an investigation into the shameful incident. Cops are currently examining the CCTV footage of the school and other evidence. This apart, they have begun to record the students’ statements with the help of specialised sign language interpreters.
Though it is expected that cops likely to take action against the accused warden under the POCSO Act, the incident has raised serious questions regarding the safety of such vulnerable students.
