| Staff REPORTER |
ITANAGAR, Jul 31: A former school hostel warden in Arunachal Pradesh, Yumken Bagra, accused of sexually assaulting 21 children, on Monday surrendered before the Court of Special Judge (POCSO) Jaweplu Chai at Yupia near here days after his bail granted on February 23 was suo moto cancelled by the Gauhati High Court.
The accused appeared personally in the court along with his counsel. He was immediately taken into custody and remanded to judicial custody at Jully Jail for 14 days, the special POCSO court judge said in her order.
"The Jail Authority of Jully Jail shall produce the accused either physically or virtually after expiry of his remand period," the judge ordered.
Earlier on July 21, the Gauhati HC, shocked by the granting of bail to the POCSO case accused, suo moto cancelled his bail application granted by a special POCSO court and ordered to list the matter on July 27 and then extended it to July 31 (Monday).
Accused Yumken Bagra, the then hostel warden of Government Residential School, Karo village, Monigong in Shi-Yomi district, was charged under Sections 10/12/14/(1)/15(1)/2 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for allegedly committing sexual assault upon 21 children (15 girls and 6 boys), aged 6 to 12 years between 2019 to 2022.
The case, initially registered at Monigong police station, was transferred to the Crime Branch PS (SIT) here which, during the course of investigation found that there were six cases of aggravated penetrative assault (rape), nine cases of molestation (including two cases of attempt to rape) and six cases of sexual harassment.
The accused Yumken Bagra (33), a native of Tadin village (Aalo), West Siang, was arrested on December 13, 2022 in Itanagar capital region 42 days after a case was registered at Monigong PS on November 1, but the special court granted him bail on February 23, 2023.
HC directive
Meanwhile, in a related development, Gauhati High Court Registrar R A Tapadar wrote to the Registers of the HC, its Kohima and Aizawl Benches, and Itanagar Permanent Bench, directing the Judicial Officers dealing with cases of rape and under the POCSO Judge to “adhere to the timeline laid down in the POCSO Act for the time bound disposal of cases registered under the Act”.
The HC also asked them to “comply with the new proviso to Sec 309 of the CrPC allowing for trials relating to the offences of rape, including child rape, to be completed within two months from the date of filing of the charge sheet”.
Transfer & posting
In another development, the Gauhati HC has transferred District and Sessions Judge (Ziro) Jaweplu Chai and posted her at Yupia (Papum Pare), replacing District and Sessions Judge (Yupia) Gote Mega, who has been shifted to the Lower Subansiri district headquarters and posted in Chai’s position, a ‘notification’ dated July 25, 2023 issued by its Itanagar Permanent Bench said.