Several parents of children studying in the school at Marathahalli where the six-year-old girl was raped are now left with more questions following the arrest of two more persons on Tuesday.
The two persons — gym instructors Lal Giri and Wasim Pasha — were arrested after the police claimed that the skating instructor, Mohammed Mustafa, who was held on the charge of raping the child, was not directly involved
The parents told The Hindu that with each passing day, their confidence in the school management was deteriorating. While classes 5 to 10 started on Monday, classes 1 to 4 are scheduled to commence on Wednesday, and pre-primary classes will start from Thursday. One of the parents said, “We had no confidence in the management from day one. The only thing we had faith in was the police investigation. But there appears to be something suspicious about that also.” He said the police arrested Mustafa, a day after the parents and others took out a huge march seeking action against the perpetrators. “The arrest of Mustafa was probably a knee-jerk reaction to silence the protesters,” he said.
Another parent said that it now appeared that more people were involved in the crime. “Earlier, I thought we could negotiate and make the school safe for our children. But now the attitude of the management is a cause for concern. More CCTV cameras and women staff will not help if the attitude of the management does not change.”
The parent, whose child is supposed to go to school from Thursday, said that he was still in a dilemma about whether to send his child to school or not.
Vikram Deo, another parent, said that at a time when parents had so many doubts, it was necessary for the management to own up and issue clarifications. “There is always the possibility of more staff being involved. It is time for the management to come out and clarify,” he said.
