In a shocking incident, a 33-year-old driver, operating a van from Tallakulam to a private school on Alagarkoil Road, sexually assaulted an LKG student, on the third day of her schooling in June.
The parents who feared backlash from the driver’s side, after prolonged hesitation, lodged a complaint with the Tallakulam police who arrested him under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Police said that the driver, father of two children, had been taking eight children from Tallakulam to the school in an omni van. On the third day of the school for the four-year-old girl, the driver had asked his friend to help him ferry the children in his van back home from the school on the pretext that his vehicle had conked off.
His friend had dropped the children at Moondrumavadi from where the accused had picked them up in an autorickshaw. After dropping two students in K. Pudur, the accused had taken two others, including the victim, in the autorickshaw.
While the other child had fallen asleep, the accused had reportedly parked the vehicle in a secluded place and sexually assaulted the girl.
The victim went home crying in pain and her pants were torn. However, the parents did not realise the grave crime and thought the child was crying since she was new to the school. Two days later, when the child had high fever, she was taken to a doctor who found something amiss. By then the child had narrated the incident and said that the “auto mama” had torn her pants and touched her private parts.
