A government school headmaster, who sexually assaulted a minor tribal girl leading to her pregnancy and subsequent death after a failed abortion bid in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, has been terminated from service.

Already under suspension, the teacher has been in judicial custody for the last one month, officials said, adding that he becomes the second employee to be dismissed from service by the government for their alleged involvement in the case.

Earlier, the government had terminated the services of a sanitation worker posted at the Kishtwar district hospital. According to the police, it was this worker who had helped the accused get the girl’s ultrasound done and administered abortion medication to the minor.

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The teacher’s termination follows the competent authority arriving at a conclusion that the activities attributed to him warranted a major penalty of dismissal from service, according to an order issued by the School Education Department on Monday.

To carry out the dismissal, the government invoked sub-clause (b) of the proviso to clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution of India, read with Rule 30(viii) of the J&K Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1956, saying that “a regular departmental inquiry was not reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the case”. It also stated that the teacher’s “continued employment would be detrimental to the interests of the Government and could erode public trust in government institutions’’.

The teacher, following his dismissal from service, now stands disqualified from future employment in any department of the J&K government.

The case

According to police, the teenager had allegedly been abused by the headmaster for several months, leading to her death on August 20 after a failed abortion attempt.

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The girl was pregnant for seven months and died on her way to Jammu where she was being ferried after her condition deteriorated following the stillbirth in Kishtwar, it was alleged. Her death led to protests across the district.

The case emerged in August after the girl complained of stomach pain and was allegedly taken to a local health centre, which confirmed her pregnancy. She was eventually taken to local medical facilities, where a fatal abortion attempt allegedly weakened her. Labour was allegedly induced, leading to a stillbirth.

After the girl died on way to Jammu, near Udhampur, the accused arranged a private ambulance to take both the bodies to her village. As the bodies arrived, villagers erupted in protest. The next day, the town under which the girl’s village falls observed complete bandh.