MP: Sexual abuse victims' kin, lawyer receive threats in Dindori

Dindori (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 11 (ANI): The relatives and lawyer of a minor girl who was sexually abused, received threats and were pressured to testify in favour of the accused, on the district court premises in Madhya Pradesh's Dindori district on Friday afternoon.
The matter of the alleged sexual harassment of minor girls came to the fore on Saturday (March 4) during an inspection by the Child Welfare Committee State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) at the hostel where around 600 students are residing.
During interaction with the inspection team, a group of girl students alleged physical and sexual harassment by school staff. On the next day (March 5), the school principal Nan Singh Yadav was arrested, while four others, one of them a woman and a priest were also booked under the relevant act.
According to the information, on Friday, the accused Principal Nan Singh Yadav was approaching for bail, for which the family members and the victims were called to testify in the court.
On the other hand, victims' lawyer Dhanya Kumari Vaish was also constantly being threatened and was pressured not to take the case.
She said, "A few girl complained about sexual harassment to team of the child welfare committee during the inspection. For the safety of these girls, we kept them at a one-stop centre. We were about to hand them over to their parents but a few workers and members of the Gondwana Gantantra Party threatened me to step back into the matter and handed the victims to them."
"I am constantly getting such a threat and I even received a threat that if I did not step back, then they would implicate my family members in some criminal offences. I have complained about the matter at Dindori police station. But there is an atmosphere of fear for family members as the accused are not arrested. I demand their immediate arrest," he added.
Dindori Bar Association President Umesh Kumar Pateria said, "Lawyer Dhanya Kumari Vaish received threats and asked to step back from the case. In view of this, the Dindori Bar Association has decided that no advocate will fight in favour of the accused in the said sexual assault case." (ANI)