School trustee, teacher booked under POCSO

Mumbai Police has booked 54-year-old French, who married an Indian national and now holds Indian citizenship, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused is one of the three board of trustees of a popular school based in Andheri (East).

Along with the prime accused, one more academician, a female, of the same school has been booked and the case against was registered against them at Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) police station on May 18.

Mumbai Police spokesperson Rashmi Karandikar confirmed the case and added that no arrest has been made so far.

The Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) N N Reddy said, “Both the accused have been booked under POCSO Act after the parents of victim alleged that their child was sexually harassed in school.”

The matter came to light when the mother noticed behavioural change in her child, who was unable to walk and sit properly. The child did not share anything until her mother showed photographs of the school staffers on its website.

“The girl pointed at the prime accused when she saw his photo on the school’s website,” police said.

Sources told the Free Press Journal that the male accused sodomised and raped kindergarten student. Currently, the accused is holidaying in Paris.

“The female teacher used to take the school children to the prime accused’s cabin where he sexually abused them. The trustee is currently out on a foreign trip and is expected to return on June 30,” police said.

“The prime accused is not in India at present. Medical examination of the child has been conducted in a government-run hospital and the report is awaited,” DCP Reddy said.