Expressing anguish over the alleged sexual assault of a four-year-old girl in a school in Hyderabad, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday, October 20, sought a detailed report from the state government on the matter. A Raj Bhavan press release said the Governor had called for immediate action against the culprits.
"The Governor expressed her dismay and deep anguish over the incident and called for immediate action against the culprit who perpetrated the heinous crime," the press release said.
Meanwhile, the parents of students in the school at posh Banjara Hills here, where the incident happened, and another branch of the school at Safilguda in the city held protests. The parents demanded the resignation of the principal of the Safilguda branch of the school, police said.
The driver of the principal was arrested on Tuesday, October 18, for allegedly sexually assaulting the four-year-old. The principal was also arrested the next day, October 19. The child’s parents blamed the principal Madhavi (55) for negligence, as their child was allegedly sexually assaulted for the past two to three months in a digital classrom. The parents have sought an explanation on why the driver Rajani Kumar (34) was given unchecked access to school premises and to even monitor students when he was not a full time employee of the school. The principal has now been remanded to judicial custody.
The four-year-old’s mother told the police that her daughter had been studying in the school for the past five months and had been complaining of pain and distress for almost two months. After a little coaxing, the child revealed to her mother that a man at the school took her to a room in the school and sexually assaulted her. Once they came to know of the incident, the child’s parents rushed to the school and she had identified Rajani Kumar. The driver and the principal were booked under Section 376AB (punishment for rape on woman under twelve years of age) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) read with 5(m) (whoever commits penetrative sexual assault on a child below twelve years), and Section 21 (punishment for failure to report or record a case) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
(With PTI inputs)