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(Trigger Warning: Descriptions of rape and sexual assault. Reader discretion advised.)
Eight months after a 21-year-old teacher at an Ujjain ashram helped a minor rape survivor who was walking door to door seeking help, the Madhya Pradesh police on Wednesday, 1 May, arrested him, along with a caretaker for allegedly sexually abusing three male minor students at their ashram.
Speaking to The Quint, Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Pradeep Sharma said that three First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against 21-year-old Rahul Sharma, and ashram caretaker Ajay Thakur at the Mahakal police station.
While police officials said that the accused have been sent to judicial custody, the minor students told The Quint that there are more survivors who haven’t filed a complaint yet.
Located on the outskirts of Ujjain, the Dandi Ashram had a total of six acharyas where over a 100 minors study.
In the FIR accessed by The Quint, one of the minor survivors, a Class 9 student and resident of Rajgarh district, mentioned in detail the alleged sexual assault he faced in the hands of Rahul Sharma.
According to the survivor's mother, a single parent, both her sons were allegedly harassed in the ashram. "I sent my elder son to the ashram, but he complained of harassment. Initially, I thought my child was making excuses to not study... but I had to get him out of there around two years ago," the mother said.
Speaking to The Quint, a minor survivor also narrated the incident of a similar incident that happened to one of the other boys studying in the ashram.
The survivor said that post the incident, the above-mentioned boy, who was an orphan, was taken away from the ashram by his uncle.
In September 2023, a CCTV footage had emerged of a minor girl, partially clothed and bleeding on the streets of Ujjain, after she was allegedly raped by an autorickshaw driver.
Other students in the ashram alleged to The Quint that there are more students who faced sexual assault, but are afraid to come forward.
In the second FIR, a 12-year-old minor survivor from Dewas district, alleged that Ajay Thakur had sexually harassed him for four days between 9 April and 14 April.
In the second FIR, sections 11 (sexual harassment) and 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act were registered.
SP Pradeep Sharma said that the issue came to the forefront after one of the minor survivors, who returned home, told his parents regarding the alleged assault.
Soon after the incident, Gajanand Saraswati, an official from Dandi Ashram, told mediapersons on 1 May that Ajay Thakur had been suspended after they received complaints of harassment.
However, Rahul Sharma is yet to be suspended.
Another parent, whose child is studying in class 9 of the ashram for over a year, told The Quint that the incident took time to come to light as students were afraid to speak up.
“When I went to bring my child home, I met other parents…. Children are afraid and in shock due to these incidents, so they aren't speaking freely. After all, how can a child of 10-12 years bear all this? We are united in the proceedings and determined to ensure that the guilty people are put behind bars…. This happened today, here, it might happen tomorrow again…” the parent said.
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