VIJAYAWADA: The manager of an unregistered girls’ hostel in Andhra Pradesh‘s Eluru town, has been accused of sexually abusing at least 14 inmates. Eluru II Town police inspector, YV Ramana, said the case of multiple sexual assaults came to light after seven victims approached the police on Tuesday and recounted their tales of horror.
The accused, Sashi Kumar, who was working as a welfare officer attached to a boys’ BC hostel besides running the unregistered hostel, is absconding.
He also ran a photo studio in the town and was managing the hostel for the past four years. The girls are from different educational institutions in Eluru and stay in the hostel as paying guests. The police said the hostel has no permission.
Initial investigations have revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the original managers of the hostel neglected its maintenance, allowing Sashi Kumar to take control. He appointed his second wife as a warden and his niece as caretaker.
The girls told police officials that the accused would take them to movies and later sexually abuse them in a boys’ hostel nearby. If anyone resisted, he would assault them physically and force them to kneel down as punishment.
The girls alleged that the accused took a girl to Bapatla on Sept 15 on the pretext of a photo shoot and sexually abused her. He dropped her back at the hostel only the following day.
Police officials suspect Sashi Kumar used his photo studio at Eluru to entice girls with offers of photo shoots and deceived them with his sweet talk.
Eluru DSP Shravan Kumar inspected the hostel after he came to know of the incident. He stated that police officials recorded the girls’ statements to determine the extent of the abuse.
A case has been registered against the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused’s accomplices will also be formally added to the FIR once their role is established.
Sashi Kumar has been suspended as welfare officer of the BC hostel for boys.
Surya Chakaraveni, district child protection officer, confirmed that 14 girls have alleged that they were physically and sexually abused by Sashi Kumar.
“He was running the hostel without any government registration. Out of the 45 students in the hostel, 26 are intermediate students, two are pursuing bachelor’s degrees, and the remaining are school students. The survivors have been handed over to their parents. We are making sure that no child leaves her studies and coordinating with the district educational officer (DEO) to ensure an easy transfer process to other institutions if they wish to. The students and parents will be counselled within a week to help them deal with the trauma,” the district child protection officer said.
