Bhopal
A Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Sunil Kumar Jha, in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sexually harassing minor tribal girls in a government-run hostel.
The officer, in the rank of a Deputy Collector, was produced in a court which sent him to a day’s judicial custody. Jha has since been suspended.
As per a complaint filed against him, the incident took place on Sunday when the SDM went to inspect the hostel for tribal girls and allegedly committed obscene acts with the minor students during the inspection, Superintendent of Police Agam Jain said quoting the complaint by the hostel’s superintendent.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered on Tuesday against Jha under Indian Penal Code section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from of Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Jain said.
According to the FIR, the accused allegedly touched and kissed three girls, aged 11 to 13, who were staying in the Navin Adivasi Kanya Ashram hostel and asked questions about their menstruation cycle.
The SP said as per the complaint from the hostel superintendent, the SDM went to the hostel at around 3.30 pm on Sunday for a surprise inspection and asked her to remain outside while he went inside to speak with the girls. The girls later narrated the entire ordeal to the superintendent.
And on the basis of a report submitted by the Jhabua District Collector, the Indore Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma has suspended Jha under the MP government’s Civil Services (Service Conduct) Rules 1965, citing carelessness and gross negligence in performing official duties.
The accused had earlier also been in a controversy with allegations levelled against him for taking bribe from the sand mafia.
The latest incident comes close on the heels of the Sidhi urination episode and the one wherein two tribal brothers were beaten up in a moving vehicle.
