EDMC says school at fault, two suspended
NEW DELHI: Nearly a week after a man allegedly entered a primary girls school in north-east Delhi’s Bhajanpura, sexually assaulted two minor girls in the classroom and urinated in front of the class, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal on Thursday said they have suspended the principal of the school and the class teacher, and terminated the services of a contract teacher to whom the matter first reported.
The corporation has also issued show cause notice to the school inspector for filing an incorrect report about the incident, and another teacher for negligence, while an “official warning” has been issued to the zonal deputy director of the education department to ensure that such case is not repeated again, Aggarwal said.
The incident happened at the primary school on April 30 and Delhi Police on Thursday released the sketch of the suspect -- seemingly in his mid-30s
-- as it stepped up efforts to track the suspect.
Aggarwal said that preliminary investigation has found several lapses.
“The class teacher should have been present in the class at that time... Severe negligence has also been found on part of the school principal. The contract teacher, who was first informed about the incident but took the matter lightly, has been terminated from services,” Aggarwal said.
“The warning against the zonal deputy director should serve as a reminder to education department officials overseeing all the 354 schools to ensure that security of schools is improved to prevent recurrence of such an event again and negligence in matters related to children will not be tolerated,” he said, adding that a security audit of schools will also be carried out.
The municipal corporation has cited lack of funds for being unable to provide security guards or CCTV cameras in its primary school.
On Wednesday afternoon, Swati Maliwal, chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, issued a notice to EDMC commissioner and the station house officer of Bhajanpura police station.
Meanwhile, police released a sketch of the suspect -- created based on descriptions given by students -- on Thursday but are yet to identify or arrest the suspect even as they said they questioned “20-30 people” who live outside the school premises in Bhajanpura.
“There are two gates in the school premises... It is possible that the suspect who lives or works outside the school entered the premises using the smaller gate,” said a police officer, aware of the investigation.
Police have registered a case under sections of Pocso Act.