Shikha Sood, the courageous whistleblower in the infamous case of rape of six disabled girls at Prerna School in Shimla by their teachers, and three police officers who helped her in bringing the guilty to book, will be honoured with the Social Bravery Award by Governor Prabha Rau at the Governor House in Shimla on Friday.

Shikha, 23, is a hearing-and-speech impaired girl who learnt about the other girls’ plight after she joined the school in March for speech therapy. Within ten days, she blew the lid off the ugly crime.

“Three girls told me that the male teachers used to sexually abuse them at night. Last year, one girl had become pregnant too. I told this to my mother, and she supported me in reporting it to the police”, said Shikha, talking to mediapersons today.

Emotionally hurt by the incident but fearless nonetheless, Shikha narrated how scared the girls were, because the warden knew about it and threatened them against revealing anything. “One day a girl held me by my arm and urged take her away to my house. She cried that the teachers would again come at night and abuse her. In fear, she had not eaten anything since two days,” Shikha explained through her mother Meena Sood.

The award ceremony is being organized by the Himachal chapter of Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies (SDRS), which works for the rights of the disabled persons.

The police officers who will receive the award and citation include Additional Director General of Police (CID) ID Bhandari, Superintendent of Police Shimla RM Sharma and Woman Inspector in CID Rajesh Joshi. They played an important role in ensuring prompt action against the guilty.

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