Following the alleged sexual assault on an eight-year-old girl at a private school in Santacruz, infuriated parents have been agitating outside the school premises for the past three days.
They are angry with what they see as negligence towards the safety of children by school teachers and the authorities. On Saturday, a few school personnel met with the protesting parents to hear their concerns, though the parents remained unsatisfied with the response.
The Accused Peon Arrested By Santacruz Police
The Santacruz police have arrested a 39-year-old peon working at a western suburban school for allegedly repeatedly raping an eight-year-old student for the past three months. According to the police, the accused would take the girl to a storeroom located beneath the ground floor staircase of the school and subjected her to physical and sexual abuse, including acts of unnatural sexual assault.
Multiple Charges Against The Alleged Accused
He has been booked under sections 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), 10 (aggravated sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment upon a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as well as the Indian Penal Code provisions 376 (committing rape repeatedly on the same woman), 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Parents Concerned Of School Safety For Students
The mother of a kindergarten student said, “The school is not assuring us of the safety of our children, which is their responsibility. When we tried to question the authorities, they were quiet. Posts on the school WhatsApp groups about the incident are being deleted by Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) members.” Another parent added that they are demanding how their kids will be kept safe. “You can’t shirk your responsibility. Shut the school if you can’t ensure the safety of the students,” added the parent.
The parents also alleged that the school should have been more vigilant. “When the parents sought to know about safety measures, their only refrain was that they have a large number of CCTV cameras and that they are not trying to save anyone. But if they have surveillance in place, how could this incident escape their attention? Why didn’t they notice if the victim wasn’t in sight for such a long period of time. It shows that the teachers were negligent,” said the mother of a fourth grader.
School Assure Full Cooperation In The Case
The school while commenting on the incident said, "We are deeply shocked by this alleged incident. We are fully co-operating with the police. Let the law take its course."
The alleged incident has come to the fore a month after a bus attendant employed by the travel agency contracted by a private school in Thane for a picnic allegedly touched the private parts of children while providing them with snacks. The alleged culprit was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.
