The Bandra police have increased their efforts to round up those named by the boys during counselling after their arrest.
Though the four juvenile boys from St Catherine of Siena school, Bandra, who were accused of raping an eight year old girl in the school premises, have been sent off to Don Bosco High School in Goa after the Juvenile Justice Board’s (JJB) order recently, there may be many more horror stories waiting to unfold.
As per JJB’s recommendation for an inquiry due to the allegations made against some staff members and senior boys of the shelter by the convicted boys, the Bandra police have increased their efforts to round up those named by the boys during counselling after their arrest.
“The JJB has recommended an inquiry regarding other instances of abuse in the shelter while pronouncing the boys guilty, even initially we did look into that aspect. During the course of investigation police visited the institution and made enquiries with not just the teachers and peons but also with other students,” said Samad Sheikh, senior inspector, Bandra police station. Sheikh further explained how questioning the children has not been easy for the police. “One has to understand the child’s psychology. We cannot act tough with the children on such sensitive issues. Therefore we prefer visiting them in plain clothes and taking them in confidence first, for them to trust us enough to divulge facts,” added Sheikh.
According to sources, the boys during their counselling, have named a caretaker addressed as Subhash Uncle and accused him of screening blue films. They have also complained about the behaviour of another staff member, Hitanshu alias Shekhar, who allegedly was seen “misbehaving and fooling with the female staff”. The boys also revealed the name of some elder boys in the shelter, who allegedly abused them and assaulted them if they resisted. A few more girls have also been named, who are said to have been abused at the shelter. “Once the inquiry is over, we will take a call on whether to register separate cases against the caretakers and other inmates of the shelter”, Sheikh added.
All the four boys, in some way or the other, blamed their act on peer pressure and early exposure to sexuality. The boys also asked why they were the only ones to be caught when there were other boys indulging in similar acts in the shelter. In fact during the counselling of one of the boys, it was realised that he needed psychiatric intervention for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder due to which he did not seemed ashamed of revealing what he did. Considering the seriousness of their revelations, while constant counselling was recommended for all the boys, the JJB also recommended an inquiry to ensure the well being of the remaining children in the shelter.
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