Sexual Assault Of Minor Girls At Fake NCC Camp | 'DLSA Report Shocking': Madras High Court Says Police Failed To Conduct Proper Probe

The bench of Acting Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice PB Balaji said that the report submitted by the District Legal Service Authority of Krishnagiri District was “shocking”. The court wondered how the school had even allowed the accused Sivaraman to come to the school. The court also wondered who was behind the whole incident and why Sivaraman would have approached the school.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Advocate AP Suryaprakasam seeking a CBI probe into the case. The court had previously directed the DLSA to visit the school, interact with the students, and submit a report. The court on Wednesday, appreciated the DLSA for its efforts but added that the report contained shocking revelations.

The court noted that as per the report, the school students had informed the DLSA that the accused Sivaraman had lured the kids into the camp on the promise of extra marks and had even threatened to chop off their little fingers of they disclosed about the sexual assault incident to others. The court also noted that Sivaraman had even displayed air pistol and riffle to the students.

The court expressed its dissatisfaction on learning that the state police had not yet arrested Bhuvan, who had introduced Sivaraman to the school authorities. Though the investigating officer informed the court that the police was looking into the matter and would take appropriate actions, the court was not satisfied with the direction in which the investigation was being carried out.

Advocate General PS Raman also assured the court that the investigation was being conducted in a brisk pace and that several arrests have been made. He informed the court that so far, Three FIRs had been registered and 18 people were arrested.

The court also perused the report submitted by the District Education Officer. In the previous hearing, the court had sought for a report from the DEO regarding the action taken against the school where the fake NCC camp was conducted. The court was surprised on why no action was taken against the school in the present case, while the authorities had acted swiftly in the Kallakurichi incident where a school girl had allegedly committed suicide.

The DEO, in his report, submitted that upon hearing the incident, a show cause notice was issued to the school and five charges were leveled against the school. He added that though the school had submitted its report, it was fully contradictory and unacceptable. He stated that the school management was involved in the unlawful activity because of maladministration and had failed to prevent the illegal activity which has affected the lives of several girls. The DEO informed the court that it had recommended the Director of Private Schools to appoint a Special Officer to administer the school invoking Section 31 of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Act 2018.

Additional Advocate General informed the court that the process of appointing the Special Officer is almost complete and a Government Order for the same is expected soon. He added that the victims were also given interim compensation.

After hearing all the submissions, the court asked the investigating officer to reply to the DLSA's report and submit her response by September 19.

Case Title: AP Suryaprakasam v State of Tamil Nadu and Others

Case No: WP 25034 of 2024