Arunachal hostel warden sentenced to death for sexually assaulting 21 children

Itanagar, Sep 26 : A special Pocso court in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday handed down a death sentence to death former hostel warden Yumken Bagra for sexually assaulting 21 minor students at a state-run residential school in Shi-Yomi district between 2019 and 2022.

A senior police official said that the special judge, Pocso cases, of west sessions court, Yupia also sentenced two others -- former headmaster Singtung Yorpen, and Hindi reached Marbom Ngomdir -- to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for their involvement in the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Prime accused Bagra, 33, sexually assaulted 21 children, including 15 girls and six boys, aged between 6 and 15 years, between 2019 and 2022.

The police official said that Bagra was convicted under various sections of the IPC as well as the POCSO Act, and sentenced to death due to the severity of his crimes.

The ruling of the court not only addresses the immediate serious issue but also serves as a significant turning point for the broader social awareness in the protection of children, underlining the collective responsibility to safeguard the rights and welfare of minors.

According to the official, sexual abuse at the government-run residential school came to light after two students, both sisters, informed their parents about the crime in November 2022. On November 4, 2022, an FIR was lodged at Monigong police station in the Shi-Yomi district.

Then hostel warden Bagra, a native of Tadin village near Aalo in West Siang district, was on the run and police arrested him on December 13, 2022, in Itanagar.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the Crime Branch Police Station after investigating the case found that Bagra sexually assaulted 21 children during his tenure as hostel warden at the Karo Government Residential school.

An official statement said that the initial investigation of this pivotal case received momentum under the leadership of Irak Bagra, Superintendent of Police of Shi-Yomi district, along with his dedicated team, and Abhimanyu Poswal, SP of West Siang, and his staff, before it was entrusted to the SIT.

The Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court on July 21 took suo-motu action and cancelled a bail granted to Bagra by a lower court.