Mumbai Police have arrested Patrick Brillant – the trustee and founder of Tridha International School – accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old in school premises.
The 57-year-old was arrested by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Police in Andheri on Tuesday.
Patrick Brillant was arrested under POCSO charges yesterday and produced before court. He has been remanded to police custody till 14 November.Police Sources
On 18 May, parents of a kindergarten student at Tridha filed an FIR alleging that their child was sexually assaulted by Brillant. They also claimed that the assault had been taking place for months and the child confided in them only after her mother spotted bruises on her body. In their statement, the student’s parents alleged the involvement of another teacher.
Brillant’s arrest comes six months after he was booked for rape and under various sections of POCSO Act.
While Brillant was questioned by the police in June, there were no arrests made in the case till Tuesday. Speaking to The Quint in September, police sources had said that they couldn’t find any witnesses to corroborate the claims made by the girl’s family. The Bombay High Court directed the Mumbai Police to reinvestigate the case on 1 November.
According to the FIR filed by the four-year-old’s parents, a teacher took the child to the trustee’s office during breaks where she was sexually assaulted. Only after the mother of the minor girl noticed changes in her behaviour and bruises on her child’s body, did she file a complaint against the duo.
Police are investigating the role played by the teacher who was allegedly an accomplice in the crime.
Brillant is an Indian-origin French national who started Tridha, a renowned school in Mumbai that also has children of celebrities as students.
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