HRC takes suo motu cognizance of girl's disappearance

Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) today took suo motu cognizance of the mysterious disappearance of a 17-year-old girl and directed Patna Senior Superintendent of Police to file a progress report in the case within a week.
BHRC chairperson Justice (Retd) Bilal Nazki said Priya Roy, a class 12th student, had disappeared on February 28 and it seemed that the police registered a case after 13 days of the complaint by her family members.
Nazki said reports about missing children in the state often appear in the newspapers and in these circumstances the Patna SSP should file a report within a week about the progress in the case.

The matter has been listed for hearing by BHRC on March 26.
Priya, a student of DAV Public School at BSEB Colony here, had gone to school along with her father Samir Roy to pay her class 12 fees. She went inside with Rs 62,000 in her bag to deposit it but soon came out and handed it back to her father. She went inside again not to return.
When Priya did not return, Samir tried to go inside the school to search for her, but the school guards did not allow him. The teachers whom he met later on said she was not a student of the school.

"The entire school, including the principal, denied that she was a student there. But she had filled up class 12 board examination forms from there and her roll number is also present in the list of candidates released by CBSE. The exams are currently going on," added her father, who is a property dealer by profession.

When contacted, the school Principal Ramanuj Prasad Singh told PTI Priya failed in class 11 and after that was not a student of the school. "I am still maintaining it. We have issued a show-cause to examination in-charge P Bharti as to how could she have filled up class 12 exam forms."

The principal said Bharti had told him that Priya's name was sent to CBSE by mistake while filling up the forms online.
However, Priya had done very well in class 10, scoring 9.6 Cumulative Grade Point Average in the boards.
Stating that a male schoolteacher had allegedly made advances to the girl via a social network site, the principal said "We have sought explanation from the concerned teacher as well. A committee has been formed to probe the entire matter.