By: ML Verma
Solan: In yet another loathsome incident whereby hapless girls were being victimised, a hostel warden was arrested here for allegedly sexually exploiting nine poor tribal girls for more than a year. Solan SP Prem Kumar Thakur told reporters that Pawan Goel (48) was arrested on Tuesday evening for sexually exploiting nine girls of a hostel run by a non-government organisation.
Most of the victims hail from tribal districts in Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand, who were studying in classes 7 to 10 in a high school run by the state government here. Police took action against the accused following complaint by a 13-year-old girl from Kinnaur. He said that police conducted raid on the hostel and arrested the warden after registering case under Section 354 of the IPC and Section 3 of the SC&ST Act against him.
Thakur added that the hostel was being funded by a national level organisation named as Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh on central grants. The organisation runs 21 such hostels in the country.
It is noteworthy to mention here that three teachers working for Prayrana NGO were booked in Shimla last year for sexually exploiting six deaf and dumb inmates staying at a similar hostel at Totu. Surfacing of a similar here has raised many doubts about the functioning of such hostels and schools in the name of supporting underprivileged minors in the state.
