Panchayats of 6 villages in Haryana have decided not to send their girls to school from Monday. (Reuters)

Perturbed over the recurring instances of sexual harassment of teenaged girls, panchayats of six villages in Haryana's Mahendergarh district have decided not to send their girls to school from Monday.

The decision, taken on Friday by the panchayats, which met at Pal village, will affect 400 girl students. The meeting was chaired by a retired DSP, Amar Singh.

According to reports, the panchayats called for a meeting following two separate incidents on May 6, when two girls were allegedly teased by some youths on their way home from school. In one of the cases, the girl had raised an alarm, following which the youths fled the spot. Locals had raised the matter with the village panchayat and lodged a complaint with the police. Following this, a youth was arrested.

In wake of the increasing number of harassment cases, residents of six villages including Pal, Gadania, Kherki, Nihalawas, Kuksi and Palah met and condemned the inaction by the police and school authorities in ensuring safety of girl students.

Expressing "deep concern over the safety and security of the village girls, who bear the brunt of unscrupulous elements", the panchayat members unanimously decided that they will not allow the girls of six villages to attend school from Monday.

Mahendergarh's neighbouring district Rewari had witnessed a similar situation a few months ago when around 50 girls were stopped from attending school because of the persistent problem of sexual harassment. Police had arrested three youths in this connection.

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