Court sentences to death school warden who sexually abused 21 children

A special POCSO court in the state of Arunachal Pradesh has sentenced the warden of a state government residential primary school to death. For eight years, the warden sexually assaulted many children, some of whom were as young as six.

The police chargesheet outlines the atrocities that occurred at the institution, including the forced viewing of porn and the drugging of students who woke up in pain.

Yumken Bagra (33), who served as the school warden from 2014 to 2022, was sentenced by the Special Court in Yupia on Thursday. The father of twin girls, who are 12 years old, made the initial allegation of sexual assault against Bagra.

Subsequently, 19 more kids, some of whom were still enrolled at the school at the time and some of whom had left, came forward to the authorities and reported that they had been sexually abused by him.

Marbom Ngomdir, the Hindi instructor, and Singtung Yorpen, the headmaster, were found guilty of aiding and abetting the acts and failing to report them. Bagra faced charges for sexual assault and rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, as well as for poisoning and criminal intimidation under certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Under the POCSO Act, the other two teachers faced charges of criminal intimidation and aiding and abetting the conduct of offences, Indian Express reported.

All of the victims, according to Oyam Binggep, the advocate for the children and their families, came from low-income backgrounds. Two of the four parents whose comments were included in the police chargesheet said that their children had told them they were being sexually assaulted by the warden, but they had not acted upon it because they felt that the children were "making excuses for not studying further."

According to statements, the mother of a 14-year-old victim did not think her son was telling the truth since "such things do not happen in their knowledge." On November 1, 2022, eight years after Bagra became the hostel warden, the father of twin girls filed a police complaint, accusing him of repeatedly abusing, harassing, and attempting to rape his daughters.

According to the chargesheet that the police presented in court, he informed the police that his daughters had told him about the abuse in order to explain why they had never wanted to return to the school and that, in the event that they were forced to, "they will commit suicide by hanging."

Six of the children who testified later in the course of the investigation admitted to having tried committing suicide as a result of their experiences, according to the police. On November 24, 2022, the case was turned over to a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Of the 22 children who were subsequently examined, 21 boys and girls, recounted experiences ranging from harassment to sexual assault that they suffered in the warden's room between 2014 and 2022.

The chargesheet included recurrent elements from the children's testimony, including being forced to watch porn, dance in their pants, massage Bagra and take medications that caused them to become drowsy before awakening in pain and naked.

Police received reports from multiple children that they had been abused and threatened not to inform anyone about his activities. Six female children were examined medically as part of the inquiry. The warden's room was searched and two bottles of cough syrup and pills were taken out. His phone also contained pornographic pictures and videos.

Calling the POCSO court’s judgement a “landmark one that carries the potential to profoundly influence the psyche of the entire state and its citizens”, the SIT’s then Superintendent of Police Rohit Rajbir Singh said, “This ruling not only addresses the immediate issue at hand but also serves as a critical turning point for the broader societal awareness surrounding the protection of children, reinforcing the collective responsibility to safeguard their rights and welfare.”