By Sahil Makkar, IANS
New Delhi : City schoolteacher Uma Khurana said she was “shocked” with the fake sting operation by a television news channel framing her in a prostitution racket and was confident that all charges against her would be proved “fictitious”.
“I was teaching the girl students (of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Asaf Ali Road) and not aware of the telecast of the sting operation. All this happened all of a sudden and left us in shock,” Khurana, who was granted bail Monday, told IANS.
“We didn’t get time to look into the matter and a mob stated thrashing me. They didn’t even listen to me and tore my clothes,” she added.
Khurana was arrested last month on charges of immoral trafficking after a purported sting operation aired by Live India, a private TV news channel, claimed to show her forcing many of her girl students into prostitution and pornography.
The telecast of the sting triggered large-scale violence in and around the school in central Delhi as a crowd attacked the school and manhandled her.
Khurana was dismissed by the state government on the recommendations of an official committee, without any proper verification into the authenticity of the sting.
A week later, the entire operation was discovered to be a hoax. The purported schoolgirl victim shown on the sting was actually Rashmi Singh, an aspiring journalist. Rashmi was arrested by the crime branch of Delhi Police.
Khurana said she was exhausted after the whole drama and that god had given her enough strength to fight for justice.
“I have full faith in the judiciary. I am out of jail due to god’s grace. We firmly believe that all charges against me will be proved fictitious,” Khurana said.
Asked if she had earned her reputation back, the teacher said: “Yes to some extent. But I am confident that now I can live with pride in society. I am also thankful to those who supported me throughout.”
Her mother Vidya Gandhi, who spoke to IANS earlier, said television channels had ruined their lives and they had lost faith in the media.
“We have completely lost faith in the media, especially television channels, as they have ruined our lives. Now we don’t trust any of their reports. Our reputation has been tarnished,” Gandhi said.
“We knew that she was innocent and being wrongly framed by the television channel. We pray to god that it should never happen to any innocent again,” her mother added.
Khurana’s elder sister, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “Police have been supporting us since the beginning and now we plead with them to investigate the whole conspiracy behind implicating my sister.”
Prakash Singh, the journalist behind the fake sting operation, was arrested last week and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Prakash will be produced in court Tuesday.