Close on the heels of the gruesome murder of a seven-year-old boy on the premises of Ryan International School here, a Class IV student of The Millennium School at Ansals Sushant City in Panipat was allegedly molested by an unidentified man inside the school washroom on Wednesday. The police said they suspect the involvement of the school's housekeeping staff.
Mother notices marks
An FIR has been registered at the women's police station against an unidentified person and the school principal on charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation under the IPC and different Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. No arrest has been made so far.
The matter came to light when the girl's mother noticed marks on her waist after she returned from school on Wednesday around noon. A little later, the girl told her parents that a man in green T-shirt had held her from behind inside the school washroom in the morning and tried to assault her. The man allegedly threatened her and told her not to speak to anyone about the incident but she could not see his face.
The parents approached the school principal, Amita Kochhar, with the complaint in the evening and the matter was later reported to the police. The housekeeping staff of the school were questioned later in the evening and the CCTV footage was examined.
Principal denies cover-up
Several parents staged a demonstration outside the school on Thursday morning accusing the school authorities of trying to hush up the matter and failing to provide security to the students. District Education Officer, Panipat, Rajpal Singh along with Deputy District Education Officer, Panipat, Uday Pratap Singh was present on the scene and both were briefed by the school management on the sequence of events.
Denying the charges of a cover-up, Ms. Kochhar told The Hindu over phone that she immediately reported the matter to the police after it came to her notice on Wednesday evening.
“The girl turned up for her Maths exam around 8 a.m., but soon complained of nausea. The teacher told her to go to the washroom. She returned within five minutes and told her teacher that someone hit her on the back. A nurse was called but the girl refused to be examined. Her parents were then informed and they came to pick her up around 10 a.m.,” said Ms. Kochhar.
Internal probe
The principal got a call from the girl's mother around noon saying that she had red marks on her body. At this, the school authorities carried out an internal investigation but did not find any unscheduled entries to washrooms by the housekeeping staff. “The parents again called me around 5:30 p.m. saying that the girl was sexually assaulted. I offered them full co-operation and the matter was reported to the police,” said Ms. Kochhar.
The green uniform is worn by the male housekeeping staff of the school. However, Ms. Kochhar claimed that the male housekeeping staff were not allowed in washrooms meant for the school’s primary section. A Panipat police spokesperson said the medical examination of the girl had been conducted and probe was on.
