2 Booked After WhatsApp Letter Alleges Gangrape of Girl in School

Not ruling out the possibility of mischief, officials said a case was registered with the Haryana Police.

Image of anti-rape protest used for representational purposes.

(Photo: The Quint)

Two clerical staff members of a private school in Gohana in the Sonepat district were booked on Sunday after an anonymous letter purportedly by a girl student alleged that she was raped on campus, police said.

The police took note of a letter that was circulating on WhatsApp, officials said, even as the alleged victim remained unidentified.

Not ruling out the possibility of mischief, officials said that a case was registered due to the sensitive nature of the allegation. The issue of safety of school children is in focus especially after the recent killing of a 7-year-old in a Gurgaon school.

The girl or her family members have not come forward so far to lodge a formal complaint, Sonepat SP Satender Kumar Gupta said.

"We immediately took cognisance of the anonymous letter and registered an FIR under section 376 D (gang rape) of the IPC. Further investigations are being conducted," Gupta said.

SHO, Police Station (City), Gohana, Sub-Inspector Kuldeep said the alleged victim had in the letter mentioned herself as a student and added that she had forwarded copies of the complaint to the Prime Minister's Office, Haryana Chief Minister, state DGP, Sonipat SP, Gohana police and two newspapers.

"We found the letter being circulated over WhatsApp and immediately took cognisance," the SHO said. We got in touch with the school authorities and questioned two members of the clerical staff, he added.

The two staff members named in the letter were booked under the FIR registered in connection with the case, the SHO said.

While the letter names the two staff members as accused, it does not reveal who the victim is, which class she studies in or her age, the police said. The school authorities also do not have any clue about any such incident, SHO Kuldeep said.

However, given the sensitivity of the matter, we immediately took cognisance. The victim claims that she was sexually assaulted by the accused in the office room, but no date of the assault is mentioned. We found that a CCTV camera was installed not just outside the office of the two staff members, but inside their room as well. The school has got several CCTV cameras installed in its complex including outside the bathrooms.

The two accused have not been arrested because investigations are still underway, the SHO said. They have been told to cooperate in the investigation and also asked not to leave the town, he added.

Responding to a question, the SHO said that whether anyone has tried to create mischief by posting this anonymous letter will become clear only after the investigation.

“At this stage, we are not ruling out any possibility. We are trying to verify from where the letter originated as till now we have information that only one newspaper had got it. The police has not got its copy so far even though we were also mentioned as one of the recipients,” he said.