Deepak Batalu : 55-Year-Old Shopkeeper Arrested for Molesting 11 Girls in Shimla

SHIMLA: A shopkeeper in Chopal area of Shimla district was apprehended by the police under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for allegedly molesting 11 minor school girls who were visiting his shop located near the government school to purchase stationary or other items.

Police are now investigating how long the 55-year-old shopkeeper, previously convicted by the court in a different case, was abusing the girls.

The accused shopkeeper, after completing his sentence, had come out of jail a couple of years back and was running the shop near the school. The school authorities on Wednesday had lodged a complaint at Chopal police station accusing the shopkeeper of inappropriately touching the school’s girls.

“Based on his complaint, a case FIR under section 8 of POCSO Act was registered on Wednesday itself, and the shopkeeper was apprehended on Thursday. Further action in this case would be initiated as per the SOP of POCSO Act,” said Sushant Sharma, Sub Divisional Police Officer of Chopal.

According to the police officials, one of the school girls had informed her school teacher about the “bad touches” of the shopkeeper during her visit to his shop. Hearing this, the teacher further brought the matter to the notice of the school principal. Alarmed over the revelation made by the girl, the school authorities convened a meeting of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee (SHPC) of the school, and much to the shock of school authorities, 10 more girls came forward with similar complaints.

It is being said that the accused shopkeeper had returned to his home only around two years back after serving a sentence of about 22 years in jail. Now, the police are also verifying this fact.

Earlier in May this year, a case was registered against a teacher of a government school in Shimla district under the POCSO Act for allegedly molesting a minor girl and showing obscene videos. The police had registered the case on the complaint of the girl’s mother.

In March this year, a case was registered against a school teacher under the POCSO Act at Gohar police station of Mandi district for molesting a girl student under the pretext of giving her a lift after school hours.

On March 20 this year, the court of Special Judge (POCSO/Rape) Shimla, Amit Mandyal, sentenced an accused identified as Deepak Batalu to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 under Section 376 of IPC, AB of IPC, and Section 6 of the POCSO Act for raping a 7-year-old girl on April 17, 2021. The Court also awarded compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the victim.

In December 2019, a teacher was arrested for molesting girl students in a government school in Haroli education block of Una district of Himachal Pradesh. The education department, taking action, had suspended the accused teacher and charge-sheeted him as 31 girl students had filed a complaint of molestation against him. District Police Woman Police Station had registered a case under the POCSO Act and had arrested the accused teacher.