POCSO case registered against residential school owner, wife in Karnataka

In Devanahalli, Karnataka, a residential school owner Dhananjay and his wife Shailaja were booked under the POCSO Act for repeated sexual harassment of minors, illegal confinement, and cover-up. Victims contacted parents, prompting police action and ongoing legal proceedings

Bengaluru: A shocking case has emerged from a residential educational institution in Karnataka’s Devanahalli, where the school’s owner and his wife have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The allegations involve the repeated sexual harassment of minor students and a subsequent cover-up involving illegal confinement. According to police, the primary accused, identified as Dhananjay, is the owner of the residential school and notably had served as the Taluq President of the Federation of Private Unaided Schools.

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Dhananjay is accused of entering the girls’ dormitory rooms late at night in an intoxicated state and harassing them. The school currently houses over 700 students. The complaint states that when the traumatised girls approached the owner’s wife, Shailaja, to report the abuse, she did not offer protection.

Instead, she reportedly supported her husband’s “vile acts” and strictly warned the children not to disclose the incidents to anyone, police said. The victims alleged that the couple subjected them to extreme pressure for eight consecutive days to ensure the news did not leak.

During this period the girls were prevented from leaving the school premises, they were denied permission to call their parents. The accused wife allegedly fed the victims papaya (often used in attempts to terminate pregnancies) following the abuse, the victims have told police. The ordeal finally came to light, when the girls managed to contact their parents and narrate the atrocities they had faced.

Upon receiving the calls, the distraught parents rushed to the school and immediately filed a formal complaint at the Devanahalli Police Station.

A case has been officially registered under the POCSO Act, and further legal proceedings are underway against both Dhananjay and Shailaja couple for their roles in the abuse and the attempted cover-up. Recently, the self-proclaimed ‘godman’, Mallikarjun Mutya, based in Yadgir has been accused of misbehaving with a minor girl after a video of the incident went viral on social media.

In response, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has registered a suo motu case on Thursday and filed a formal complaint with the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Yadgir. The accused, Mallikarjun Mutya, who is in the age group of 25-26, fled his residence and is currently absconding to evade arrest following the filing of a First Information Report (FIR).

The police have issued notice to him to appear for the investigation. The accused moved a petition in the Karnataka High Court on Friday seeking quashing of the case registered against him.