Punjab principal’s ‘sex assault’ on minors: ‘Open secret, many complaints’, arrest after 12 yrs
Photos & videos of Amritpal Dhiman sexually assaulting students in 2010 went viral in Feb. Villagers say most people knew about it, police suspect more incidents over the years.
Nangal: Back in 2010, a school principal in Rupnagar district of Punjab allegedly sexually assaulted minor students. For over a decade, there were hush-hush whispers about him in his village, but no one lodged a police complaint. Then, on 15 February 2022, over 190 photos and videos of the principal allegedly having sex with three minor girls, leaked on social media and went viral.
Based on the photos and videos, Ashwani Kumar, a member of the social activist group Bhim Army and an Independent candidate from Sri Anandpur Sahib in the just-held Punjab assembly elections (results of which are yet to be declared) filed an FIR against Dhiman at Nangal police station on 20 February. The principal was arrested on 24 February and has been booked under Section 376 (2) (taking advantage of official position and raping woman) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, confirmed Satish Kumar, deputy superintendent of police, Nangal.
The incriminating visuals — which purportedly show Amritpal Dhiman, principal of SD National School in Nangran Kalmot village, located about 7 kilometres from Nangal town, having sex with three minor girls — have been accessed by ThePrint.
According to the FIR, also accessed by ThePrint (and translated from Gurmukhi with the help of investigating officer Navdeep Kaur), the complainant has alleged that residents of Nangran and Passiwal villages had made “several” complaints to the district administration about Dhiman in the past, but no action was taken, allegedly because the accused is a “Congress leader”.
“I want to say that this person has an association with political parties. He is a leader of the Congress party. He was earlier the sarpanch of village Nangran. A lot of people in my area have complained about this to the district administration and the current MLA, but since he’s a Congress person, nobody took any action,” claims the FIR.
The Congress MLA in question is the Speaker of the Punjab assembly, Rana K.P. Singh, who denied that Dhiman had any links to the party when asked by ThePrint. He also denied knowledge of the alleged harassment of students by Dhiman.
While it is still not clear how the photos and videos came to be leaked online so many years after the alleged incident, police have arrested Nangran pharmacist and Dhiman’s friend, Shivkumar for the deed, since investigations showed him to be in possession of the visuals. He has been booked under sections 67 (A) and (B) of the IT Act, as well as sections 14 and 15 of POCSO Act (use of child for pornographic purposes and possession of child porn respectively)
Shivkumar confessed he had stolen this footage from Dhiman’s computer, but we’re still investigating how the footage was leaked on WhatsApp,” said Kaur, the investigating officer. “The accused, Dhiman, has alleged that Shivkumar used the footage to blackmail him.”
Kaur added that it was still unclear for how long the alleged blackmail had been going on, and what demands were made by Shivkumar. “We are still investigating,” she said.
According to the police, none of those allegedly assaulted by Dhiman have come out to file a formal complaint against him yet. “We’re in touch with the victims and trying to get them to record a statement under Section 164 (of the Code for Criminal Procedure) in front of a judge. But the women fear this will disrupt their life, so nobody has filed any complaint yet,” Kaur said.
ThePrint visited Dhiman’s house Saturday, but his family members were not present at the time.
Meanwhile, Shivkumar’s wife, who didn’t wish to reveal her name, claimed: “Shivkumar knew Dhiman was a dirty man and had not been speaking to him for years. Dhiman is trying to frame him.”
Theprint
