After women right activists lodged a complaint that the principal of Emmanuel International Boarding School in Dharan was sexually abusing the girl students, police arrested the principal Kaping Maram [name transliterated]. [break]
Shortly after his arrest, police also arrested his wife Radila Maram [name transliterated] on the charge of attempting to whitewash the alleged wrongdoing of her husband.
Following the arrest, women rights activists rescued over a dozen girl students from the school hostel who were allegedly victimized by the principal. Majority of the victims are between the age of four and 14.
The Maram couple originally hails from Manipur, India.
A girl from Manipur, who was brought to Dharan by Kaping with a promise to admit her to one of the best schools of India, had complained about the misconduct of the principal to women right activities in Dharan. She said she was brought to Dharan in 2006 at age 11 to study at the school with her younger brother and two sisters. She informed the right activities that Kaping had started sexually assaulted her since then.
"When I first came to the school, one of my friends had warned me about possible sexual harrassment. She had told me that Kaping had forced her into having sex at the school bathroom," She said, adding, "Later, I was also victimized at his hands."
According to her, the principal has been sexually abusing other girl students as well.
She also said that the principal would threaten to thrash her up if she leaked the secret with anyone. She had left the school some four years ago.
An eight-year-old girl student of the school who was rescued by women rights activists revealed that the principal molested the girl students and touched their private parts whenever they sought permission for outings.
The rescued students also informed that the principal would beat them severely.
Devi Laxmi Pradhan, a women´s rights activist, said the school hostel was in poor shape and it seemed the principal ran the hostel just to fulfill his sexual desire.
DSP Chandra Dev Rai said they arrested the principal following a complaint by women rights activists. Investigation into the case is underway. "Our preliminary investigation has shown that the charges against the principle are true. Investigation is still under way," added Rai.
The school was established in 2000 and has been running classes up to the seventh grade.
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