Dehradun boarding school horror: Autistic brothers from UP sexually abused, tortured

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Two autistic brothers, aged 9 and 13, from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh were allegedly subjected to severe abuse at a boarding school for children with special needs in Dehradun.

The boys, admitted to the school in April this year, were allegedly beaten, burned with cigarettes, and sexually assaulted by a 29-year-old warden named Monu Pal, who hails from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, according to a Hindustan Times reported.

The incident came to light when the children's mother visited them last Friday on May 30. She took them to a friend’s office in Dehradun, where both children broke down and shared the details of what they had been through. The mother immediately informed the police.

Dehradun City Superintendent of Police (SP) Pramod Kumar said that a case has been registered under sections 64(2) (rape) and 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused, who was staying at the boarding facility, was arrested on May 31 and produced in court the following Sunday. He has since been sent to jail.

According to the SP, the officials spoke to the two children with the help of translators from the child welfare committee (CWC), with assistance from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR).

Both the children and their mother have given their statements. The boys were also taken for medical examination.

"We seized the DVR of CCTV cameras installed inside the boarding facility, which was opened three months ago in a four-room residential building. We are also trying to contact the parents of the other two children staying with the two victims," TOI quoted SP Kumar as saying.

Chairperson of SCPCR, Geeta Khanna, said there were four children with autism staying in the same room on bunk beds installed near the accused's bed.

"The facility was being run by a woman without a permit. She was running a prep school for special children a few kilometres away from the boarding facility. There were 15 children studying there, of which four opted for the boarding facility. The school was being run by a trust registered in Delhi. They didn't inform the local administration about both the facilities. The owner said Pal was recruited on May 16 and since then he was committing crimes against the children," TOI quoted Khanna as saying.