A 12-year-old mentally disturbed minor girl was gang-raped in January 2017 by the Principal and three teachers of Kako Secondary School in Bihar’s Jehanabad. The accused were identified as Principal Aju Ahmed and three teachers — Atul Rahman, Abdul Bari and Md Shakaut. It has now come to light that the four are out on bail and are intimidating the victim’s family.

The victim’s mother narrated their ordeal. She stated that her mentally challenged daughter was gang raped by four Muslim teachers on 15 January 2017. The High Court granted them bail. Since the time they got bail, they have been hiring goons to assault the family both inside their home and outside.

On 15 January this year, the four sent a group of people comprising both men and women. The group threw bricks, stones, and other items on the windows and roof of the victim’s house. Her mother added that they managed to evade the attack. They reached out to the police for help with great difficulty. On reaching their area, the police asked them to come out as they could not locate their house.

However, when the victim’s mother got back to the police on the phone to locate them, the police abused them using expletives. When she located the police, she asked them why he was abusing them (the victims). The police slapped the victim and her mother. He snatched her phone, in which videos were showing the police’s abusive behaviour. He forcibly deleted all the recordings before returning her mobile. She said her attempts to reach higher police authorities have been futile.

In 2017, the four accused spotted the girl alone in the school building. They took her to the roof of the school building and raped her. The victim was spotted by her mother, also a teacher in the same school, lying in a messy state on the roof.

Intimidating rape victims and their families are pressure tactics used by the accused. Courts must reconsider granting bail to rape convicts. Additionally, the police must be held accountable for their apathy.