9-yr-old ‘molested’ by senior students

He said that teacher incharge of the bus ignored his complaints about ‘bad touch’

NEW DELHI: A nine-year-old student of a private school in east Delhi was allegedly molested by three senior students on the school bus, thrice between July 27 and August 1 this year.

Police said the boy in his statement alleged that he had informed a female teacher, who was in charge of the students travelling on that school bus, about the “bad touch” but she ignored his complaint.

The FIR, which was lodged on the child’s statement, stated that the teacher allegedly dismissed his complaint by saying, he was a “cute” boy so he may been have “teased”.

The boy’s family alleged that the teacher did not ask for details of the incident from the child.

A case under sections 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) and 21 (punishment for failure to report or record a case) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered.

“We are probing the case. Further action will be taken once we complete our probe,” deputy commissioner of police Meghna Yadav said.

“The three students were rusticated and a show-cause notice was issued to the teacher, a day after the matter was brought to the school administration’s notice. We are cooperating the police in their probe,” the chairman of the school said.

The boys were students of Class 7, 8 and 10. The victim was a student of Class 4. The case was registered on August 6.

The boy’s family said they were unaware of the crime until August 1, when he returned home from school and was crying uncontrollably.

“When I asked him why he was crying, he locked himself in his room, saying he will tell the reason only to our mother. I called my mother and she rushed home,” the boy’s elder sister said.

The mother said her son looked terrified and was holding a knife in his hand.

“My son said he would commit suicide if we forced him to go to school. I consoled him after which he broke down and told us what had happened,” the woman said.

The sister alleged her brother was first molested by one of the three students when he boarded the bus after school on July 27.

“There were 16 students besides the teacher and bus staff in the bus. The three boys were seated on the rear seat. They called my brother and molested him. The other two boys did the same on July 30 and August 1,” she said, alleging her brother informed the teacher on July 30 but she did not take any action.

The family alleged the school administration refused to take any action against the three students and the teacher even when they complained about the crime.

“The school’s vice-principal and teachers tried to hush up the matter and even tried to bribe us in order to persuade us for not reporting the matter to police,” the sister said.

The school’s chairman refuted the bribery allegations and refused to comment further on the case.