Badlapur, Maharashtra: Till a while ago, their four-year-old girl was a regular pre-schooler looking forward to her classroom, friends and playtime. Suddenly, about two weeks ago, her family noticed a sea of change: she was walking differently, afraid to go to the toilet, and determined she didn’t want to go to school.
That’s how the parents found out about her ordeal. At least two four-year-old girls, including their daughter, were allegedly sexually assaulted by a male hospitality staff at a private school in Badlapur in Thane district, just outside Mumbai.
On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government announced a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under IPS officer Arti Singh to probe the incident. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also said three police officials (an inspector, an assistant sub-inspector, and a head constable) were suspended pending further investigation over the alleged laxity on their part.
According to the first information report (FIR), filed on 18 August and accessed by ThePrint, the accused was booked under Sections 65(2), 74, 75 and 76 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 4(2), 8 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The FIR came only after the family’s days-long ordeal to get authorities to take their complaint seriously. The difficulties began when, learning about what happened with their daughter, they approached the school.
A member of the girl’s family told ThePrint that the parents immediately raised the issue with a teacher, but she did not heed their complaints. The police, the family member said, made the families and the girls wait outside the police station for 12 hours before registering a complaint.
On Tuesday, the delay in police action and school administration prompted hundreds of protesters and angry parents to hold a rail ‘roko’ (blockade) at the Badlapur station.
How the incident came to light
While education minister Deepak Kesarkar said Tuesday that the alleged sexual assault is believed to have occurred between 13 and 16 August, according to a relative of the girl, her family had noticed a change in her body language since two weeks ago and suspected it had happened earlier.
“For about two weeks or so, she wasn’t walking properly, even holding her urine. We first thought she might have had an infection,” the relative said.
Last week, when her grandfather went to pick her up after school, the other girl’s father met and told him how a ‘dada‘ (a cleaner who recently joined the school) misbehaved with his daughter. This minor had informed her family that the accused inappropriately touched her and a fellow student in school.
“They told us that they would be doing a medical test at a private hospital and so, we decided to do so for our child as well,” the relative said.
To their shock, the report confirmed signs of sexual assault and the families decided to confront the school about it. But the teacher allegedly did not pay them any attention. Then they decided to lodge a complaint with the police.
“But the police behaved rudely with us. They did not listen to us. Our small girls were with us, but we were made to stand outside. Whenever we tried to go to the police, they would yell at us and ask us to go stand outside,” the relative said.
Finally, they had to take the help of a local politician to get the police to lodge their complaint. The police finally registered the FIR on Sunday night, the relative said.
But their ordeal didn’t end there. After the police complaint, they were required to get the victims checked at a government hospital according to the protocols.
“We had an appointment for 9 am the next day. We reached around 8:45 am, but the police came after 11:30 am. We were waiting with our girls for 3 hours at the hospital,” the relative said.
There may be other victims, family alleges
The family suspects that there may be other girls from the school who also have been sexually assaulted. “Some had even complained to the school about it, but now they are not ready to come out and file a complaint,” the relative alleged.
They further questioned why the class teacher did not suspect something was wrong, when a student took 15 minutes for a bathroom break.
The restrooms are located at a distance from the class, so attendants are required to assist the students. “We are not sure if the attendant was with our girl or not, when the incident happened,” the relative said.
When the family approached the school for CCTV footage, the family said the authorities denied them access and said the CCTV system had been turned off for the past 15 days.
The family alleged that the school management may have tampered with the CCTV footage. “Our child is traumatised and scared. We all are shocked by what happened. We are demanding the arrest of the school teacher and principal for their behaviour, and also the police officials needed to be arrested,” the relative said.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also Read: How alleged sexual assault of 2 minors at Badlapur school led to clash between protesters, police