Parents offered to settle matter out of court, wanted money: School

NURSERY STUDENT ‘MOLESTED’ IN GURGAON SCHOOL

DAYS AFTER a nursery student studying in a prominent Gurgaon school was allegedly molested by a member of the housekeeping staff, the school Friday said a “representative” of the family offered to settle the matter out of court in return for a “large sum of money”.

The school also claimed they have registered a complaint against the family at the Sector 29 police station. Confirming the same, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Deepak Saharan said, “The school has filed a complaint at Sector 29 police station and we will investigate it.” The family could not be reached for comment.

On Thursday, police said the accused, Yogesh (32) was arrested Thursday and being “questioned further”.

The school’s spokesperson also said the institution would cooperate fully with police in their investigation. It also said it was taking measures to ensure such an incident does not happen again. “The school is cooperating fully with police in the investigation. We have also handed over all CCTV footage to assist them with the same,” he said.

The spokesperson claimed the accused had been hired through an “external agency” and was employed on a trial basis since Saturday. “The accused was only here on a trial basis. But we have taken additional precautions to ensure such an incident is not repeated. We have reached a decision that no male housekeeping staff will be hired from now on,” he said.

According to police, the incident took place at 9 am Monday when the three-and-a-half-yearold child went to the bathroom. Police said the accused, who hails from Firozabad, allegedly cornered the child in the bathroom, where he “sexually assaulted and inappropriately touched” her.

Gaurav Phogat, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Sushant Lok police station, said, “A case was registered based on the complaint of the victim’s mother under sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC, and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.”