Balangir: The POCSO court in Odisha’s Balangir has sentenced the headmaster of an upper primary school to 20 years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting girl students.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on convict Biswanath Buddhia. He has to serve an additional two-year jail term if he fails to pay the fine.
Buddhia was working in Mursingh Upper Primary School under Deogaon block. He used to call senior girl students to his office cabin and sexually assault them. He also threatened the girls of expelling them from school if they spoke about it to anyone. The incident came to light after one of the victims shared her ordeal with her parents. On August 22, 2022, villagers gheraoed the school and insisted on immediate suspension of the headmaster.
Taking the incident seriously, the district education officer placed him under suspension and he was later arrested by Deogaon police.