Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, July 18 2010:
Police today arrested the proprietor of a girls' hostel on the charge of molesting a young girl student staying at the hostel.
The incident happened at Hipster Hostel, a tutorial centre and hostel for girl students located at Keishamthong Irom Pukhri Mapal in Imphal West district.
The arrested proprietor of the hostel has been identified as Thokchom Roshan (32), son of Th Angou residing at the same locality.
The incident happened at about 11 pm yesterday.
A 13 year-old girl student of a reputed school experienced a pang of cough while sleeping.
At the time, Roshan came and enquired who the student was who was coughing, and called her downstairs to take cough syrup.
The girl, without having any suspicion of what was to happen, went downstairs where Roshan told her to come.
Then Roshan molested her.
The girl then pushed him off and ran upstairs, went into her room and bolted the door from inside.
The girl narrated the incident to some of her close friends.
Her friends advised her to disclose what happened to her parents when they visit the hostel today as it was Sunday.
The girl's mother came to visit her around 10 am today carrying edibles.
She narrated to her mother about last night's incident.
Her furious mother reported the incident to a personal of Singjamei Police Station.
Following his advice, the mother lodged a written complaint with the Imphal Police Station against the proprietor of the hostel.
A team of Imphal Police Station immediately rushed to the hostel and interrogated Roshan about the incident.
From what he replied, the police got some clues and registered a case against Roshan.
The news of the happenings reached the parents of the girl students staying at the hostel in no time, and parents came to the hostel to take their daughters away.
Most of the girl students left the hostel today.
Meanwhile, General Secretary of AMSU HQ, Md Alamgir told the Huieyen Lanpao that there should be a warden at every hostel, specially where girl students stay.
The particular hostel in question would be banned forever, he said adding that a public meeting would be organised soon to chalk out socially accepted norms for running private hostel.
The AMSU will begin to inspect how the hostels in the state are being run, Md Alamgir said.
A police source said, the hostel was opened about three years back.
There are around 20 girl students from Class I to X studying in different reputed schools in Imphal.
Most of the students are said to be studying in Little Flower School and Nirmalabas School.
The hostel charges a student monthly fees of Rs 3,400 which include mess fee, room rent, van fare to go to school, etc.
In addition to the monthly fees, the hostel management charges about Rs 7,000 as deposit from each of the students.
Police said, there is no particular warden appointed specially to look after the students staying at the hostel.
Proprietor of the hostel Roshan and his wife, along with their family, run the hostel.