Following the news of a Class 6 student being allegedly molested by a senior student within the premises of a private school in Mumbai’s Kandivali (West) on Thursday, 30 August, angry parents protested outside the school gates on Friday afternoon.
The 12-year-old girl was allegedly molested by the minor boy at the school’s canteen between 9 am and 10 am on Thursday, ANI reports. The girl told her parents that the boy had come up from behind her and put his hand inside her skirt. The minor boy in question, however, has not yet been identified by the girl.
Reacting to the incident, the parents accused the school management of not responding quickly enough to the incident.
The girl’s relatives demanded to see the principal and school officials. However, they were denied entry into the school’s premises, reports Hindustan Times.
The girl complained about the incident to her class teacher (on Thursday) and also told the school principal about it. After we got to know of it, we asked the school to not allow the students to leave unless the perpetrator was identified. The school, however, went ahead and allowed them to leave. We won’t keep quiet till we get answers.The girl’s aunt told Hindustan Times
She added that the school authorities “trivialised” the issue, stating that incidents like these kept taking place, the report adds.
However, as more and more worried parents arrived at the school premises to pick up their children earlier than usual, the school administration finally gave in and agreed to meet with them at 10 am on Saturday, 1 September. The school's principal has also assured them that the accused will be punished.
The police in turn have registered an FIR under Section 8 (sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act after the girl’s mother filed a complaint.
They will also go through CCTV camera footage in the school to see if they could track down any matter that would help the case. Along with this, they have been questioning a group of boys who were reportedly present at the canteen when the incident took place, the Hindustan Times reports.
(With inputs from ANI and Hindustan Times)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)