Achi news desk-
Following the alleged sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl at a private school in Santacruz, angry parents have been agitating outside the school grounds for the past three days.
They are angry at what they see as negligence towards the safety of the children on the part of the school teachers and the authorities. On Saturday, several school officials met with the protesting parents to hear their concerns, though the parents remained unsatisfied with the response.
The accused peon was arrested by Santacruz police
Santacruz police have arrested a 39-year-old man who works at a west suburban school for repeatedly raping an eight-year-old student over the past three months. According to the police, the accused will take the girl to a warehouse located under the staircase on the ground floor of the school and subject her to physical and sexual abuse, including acts of unnatural sexual assault.
Multiple charges against the alleged defendant
He was booked under sections 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), 10 (aggravated sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) as well as Indian Penal Code provisions 376 (committing repeated rape on the same woman), 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Parents are concerned about school safety for students
The mother of a kindergarten student said: “The school does not guarantee us the safety of our children, which is their responsibility. When we tried to investigate the authorities, they were silent. Posts in the school’s WhatsApp groups about the incident are deleted by members of the Parent-Teacher Organization (TA). Another parent added that they demand how they will keep their children safe. “You can’t shirk your responsibility. Close the school if you can’t guarantee the safety of the students,” added the parent.
The parents also claimed that the school should have been more vigilant. “When the parents asked to know about safety measures, their only avoidance was that they have a large number of closed-circuit cameras and that they are not trying to save anyone. But if they have surveillance, how could this incident escape their attention? Why did they not notice if the victim was not in sight for such a long period of time. It shows that the teachers were negligent,” said the mother of a fourth grader.
The school promises full cooperation in the event
The school while reacting to the incident said, “We are deeply shocked by this alleged incident. We are cooperating fully with the police. Let the law take its course.”
The alleged incident came to light a month after a bus attendant employed by the travel agency that contracted a private school in Thane for a picnic allegedly touched children’s private parts while providing them with snacks. The alleged culprit has been arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.
