School Owner Gets 10 Years for Raping Former Student

Bhubaneswar: A POCSO court in Rourkela, Odisha, has sentenced Bibhuti Kumar Gupta, the owner and principal of Bandhamunda Gyanodaya Vidyalaya in Sundargarh district, to 10 years in prison for raping a former student in 2019. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Gupta, with a two-year additional jail term if the penalty is not paid.

The incident occurred on December 8, 2019, when the victim, a former student of the school, approached Gupta to discuss a waiver for her younger brother’s tuition fees due to financial hardship. Gupta invited the girl to his office, where he sexually assaulted her. The victim, fearing social stigma, initially kept the incident to herself.

It wasn’t until two months later that the victim confided in her family, who subsequently filed a complaint with Bandhamunda police on February 25, 2020. The police registered a rape case and arrested Gupta.

After hearing testimonies from 21 witnesses and reviewing the evidence presented by the prosecution, the POCSO court convicted Gupta. Public prosecutor Kailash Chandra Pradhan confirmed the conviction and sentence.