In a most shameful act, the principal of a Kendriya Vidyalaya school in Raipur, Chattisgarh had tried to ‘hush up’ the rape of a class 1 student in his school premises. He has been now arrested by the Raipur police for the same.
“Kendriya Vidyalaya principal B S Ahire was arrested by Khamtarai police on Friday for allegedly not reporting the rape incident to police or any other competent authority even after he came to know about it,” Khamtarai police station SHO Ramakant Sahu told PTI.
Last week on August 20, a minor was allegedly raped by three 10-year-old boys of Class-5 in the Kendriya Vidyalaya school’s bathroom. This branch of Kendriya Vidyalaya is located in Khamtarai police station limits in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
After the girl narrated the incident to her parents, they lodged a written complaint to the school administration which in turn constituted a probe team instead of informing the police, which only came to know about it the next day.
The principal B S Ahire not only delayed in passing on the information to the police but also allegedly pressurised the parents not to lodge any police complaint on the incident. This had ultimately led to a stir between the school authorities and the infuriated relatives of the survivor. After the school authorities failed to take any action the relatives of the victim approached the police on August 22.
“The police investigated the incident after registering the case of sexual assault under the relevant sections of the POCSO Act. The medical test confirmed the rape. Instead of immediately informing the magistrate, police or Bal Kalyan officer, the school on its own began the investigation into it. The principal was arrested and produced before the court of a chief judicial magistrate. He was later released on bail,” Town inspector Ramakant Sahu said.
After the parents of the girl approached police on Thursday, the three minor students were booked under section 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sections 376 (Punishment for rape) and 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They have been sent to a juvenile home, the SHO added.
