Chhattisgarh: Govt School Hostel Inmate Impregnated and Forced to Undergo Abortion; Probe Ordered

Kanker: The authorities in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district have ordered a probe into a complaint that a student of a government-run residential school got pregnant and was made to undergo an abortion to cover up the matter, an official said on Saturday. The district collector has ordered a five-member probe panel, headed by sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Pakhanjur area Anjor Singh Paikra, to submit its report in two days, the official said. The sarpanch and residents of Chhote Bethiya village approached local MLA Vikram Usendi with a complaint on Friday, following which he informed Kanker collector Nilesh Kshirsagar.

Talking to reporters, Usendi, who represents Antagarh seat, said he visited the Bande area where a villager complained about the superintendent of the hostel of a resident school for girls in Chhote Bethiya. As per the complaint, the woman hostel superintendent was allegedly running the facility at her whim and forced inmates to work for her. The superintendent, who is supposed to stay overnight at the hostel, slept in her house, leaving the girls behind with a woman staffer, it said.

Villagers of Chhote Bethiya have also alleged that one of the students was impregnated by an unidentified person and made to undergo an abortion. Demanding the hostel superintendent's removal, villagers have further claimed that she sent inmates to church in a bid to convert them. Usendi said he spoke to the collector on the issue and asked him to probe the allegations and take strict action against the culprits.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, the collector suspended hostel superintendent Vinita Kujur and appointed a new superintendent, an official statement said. He has also constituted a five-member committee to probe the matter and submit its report in two days, it stated. 

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