ITANAGAR, 12 Dec: The Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR) has recommended to the state government for initiating strict disciplinary action and termination of services against three state government employees, including a policeman, for their alleged involvement in a sex racket involving minor girls.
The alleged sex racket case was brought to light by the minor victims in August this year and a regular case was subsequently registered.
The police have arrested nine people, out of which three are prime accused, in connection with alleged rape and sexual assault of minors. The sex scandal continued over a period of four years, from 2019 to 2024, till the lodging of FIR in the said case.
The child panel, which took suo moto cognisance of the case, termed the four-year operation of the racket and the reported sexual exploitation of minors “alarming.”
The report alleged that prime accused Chaya Dulom, a female attendant with the department of health &family welfare and her husband David Dulom, a surveyor with the water resources department, lured adolescent girls into the racket.
The victims reportedly faced repeated sexual exploitation, often multiple times a day, the report said.
The commission expressed concern over the complicity of government employees in such heinous crime and recommended strict disciplinary actions, including termination of service.
It also called for an investigation into the role of police constable Hainu Naiham, who allegedly coerced victims to cooperate with the accused instead of protecting them.
The commission suggested that disciplinary authorities across departments take stringent measures against erring employees involved in heinous crimes to deter such activities in the future.
“The sex racket was going on since the year 2019 under the guise of a restaurant cum bar at Itanagar. Chaya Dulom and her gang was continuously involved in enticing adolescent girls for work at the restaurant cum bar with ulterior motives of attracting customers and sexual exploitation of the victims. During the enquiry it was informed by the victims that they were subjected to rape and sexual exploitation several times even in a single day,” the commission said in its report.
The commission observed that since the racket has been going on in the state capital over a prolonged period of four years, there are compelling reasons for having many more victims as well as accused persons in the said case if thoroughly investigated.
“The fact that the number of victims in this case is more than the number of accused persons is in itself highly questionable and reflects the lacunas in the entire investigation process,” it said.
In addition, there is a high probability of involvement of high-profile persons who can manipulate the course of the investigation, the commission said and recommended reconstitution of the SIT for a thorough investigation into the case in order to bring out the extent of the offence and actual picture of the case, APSCPCR Chairperson Ratan Anya said in the report.
The commission also recommended timely disbursement of compensation to all the victims as per the provisions of the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011.
During the investigation by the commission, Anya said, around nine victims were found to be major, over 18 years of age, and their case details have been forwarded to the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women for further intervention.(PTI)
