The principal and president of a Bengaluru school, where a three-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by the watchman, were arrested on Thursday, August 6, for not complying with orders issued by police on safety measures. The incident had triggered protests by parents of students who had clashed with the police on Tuesday, August 4.
“Principal and the school president have been arrested for not complying with the orders issued by the Commissioner of Police (on safety measures). They have been arrested under section 188 IPC (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and section 336 IPC (Act endangering life or personal safety of others),” said P Harikeshan Additional Commissioner of Police (Bengaluru East).
Parents of the girl had approached police after they came to know about the incident as she complained of pain in her private parts after returning from school in the afternoon on Monday, August 3. The girl was immediately taken for medical examination at government-run Bowring And Lady Curzon Hospital and a case was booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
Police had arrested the watchman of the school on Tuesday, August 4, following the complaint. Following the series of sexual assaults on minor girls at schools in the city last year raising questions about their safety, Bengaluru Police had issued safety guidelines for schools that included installation of CCTV cameras, deputing of floor vigilance officer and confining areas like gym and swimming pools and other sports facilities to authorised persons among others.
The safety guidelines were found to be breached in several cases. National Commission for Women Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam on Wednesday said that, schools cannot absolve themselves of responsibility in cases of sexual assault on children, as she took cognisance of the incident.