Gauhati HC cancels bail granted to hostel warden by POCSO court in sexual abuse case

Guwahati, July 22: Shocked by the granting of bail to a hostel warden from Arunachal Pradesh who was accused of sexually assaulting 21 children, the Gauhati High Court suo moto cancelled the bail application granted to the warden by a special POCSO court.

The High Court has expressed shock at the “casual” manner in which a hostel warden was granted bail by the special court. The development comes on the basis of news articles regarding grant of bail to the accused Yumken Bagra, Hostel Warden of the Government Residential School, Karo Village in Yomi District, who is alleged to have sexually assaulted 21 children (15 girls and 6 boys), aged 6 to 12 years between the years 2019 to 2022.

A bench of Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta further felt that there is an emergent need of sensitizing the Special Judges posted in the POCSO Courts across the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam. The Director, Judicial Academy, Assam has been directed to initiate the process for training and sensitizing of all Judicial Officers dealing with POCSO Act cases in the States of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

The HC maintained, “A perusal of the record reveals that the victims (21 in numbers) were all less than 15 years of age when the dastardly act of sexual assault by person in authority, i.e. the Hostel Warden accused herein, was committed upon them. A perusal of the charge-sheet, which contains brief reference to the statements of the victims, further reflects that the accused Warden forced the children staying as boarders in the Hostel to watch pornographic movies and repeatedly subjected them to sexual assault. The medical reports of most of the victims corroborates the fact that they were sexually assaulted as marks of violence were noticed on their private parts.”

The accused was charged under Sections 10, 12, 14(1), 15(1), 2 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) for allegedly committing sexual assault upon 21 children (all less than 15 years of age). The High Court noted, “Since the offence under Section 376AB of the IPC has also been applied in the case, by virtue of Section 439(1A) of the Cr.PC it is mandatory to ensure presence of the informant or any person authorized by him at the time of hearing of the application for bail. However, perusal of the bail order dated 23.02.2023 would reveal that the Special Court acted in gross disregard to this mandatory provision.”

The Special Public Prosecutor, Arunachal Pradesh rejected the bail application on the ground that releasing the accused on bail would prejudice the prosecution case as the accused holds the capacity to influence the witnesses and tampering the evidence, which was yet to be recorded.

“Absolutely flimsy reasons were assigned by the Special Court for granting bail to the accused who being the Hostel Warden, was entrusted the duty of ensuring the safety of the children lodged in the Hostel acted in a demonic manner and sexually assaulted the young children over a period of almost 3(three) years and also exposed them to pornographic material. The trial of an accused charge-sheeted for such serious offences need not wait for the apprehension of the absconding accused and proceedings can even be continued by separating the trials”, the Court said.

Thus, the Court directed to issue notice of the bail cancellation proceedings to the accused.