Tension gripped the Kendudiha Upgraded High School under Hemgiri block in Sundargarh district on Friday as villagers locked the school in protest against an allegation of a teacher misbehaving and molesting five Class X girls.
Irate villagers also thrashed the teacher, Ranjan Behera (35), for his unsavory act. later, he went absconding. The concerned parents lodged an FIR in the Hemgiri police station. The police have registered a case and started a manhunt to nab the accused teacher.
According to sources, on Thursday afternoon, Behera was monitoring the cleaning work required for inauguration of a new building on Friday.
Ten girls were engaged in the work. Behera, reportedly drunk then, misbehaved and molested five of them.
After returning home, the girls told their parents about the incident. On Friday, villagers too lodged a complaint before the Assistant Block Education Officer (ABEO) too.
BDO Pradip Dang, Hemgiri PS IIC Sradhanjali Subudhi and Hemgiri ABEO Sahadev Sahu reached the school and assured the irate villagers of necessary action against the teacher. Thereafter, the school functioned normally. “We have registered a case and started searching for the teacher,” said IIC Subudhi.
The ABEO said he would conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the BEO soon.