Headlines
Bengaluru school headmistress, husband held in child molestation case
Bengaluru, Aug 6
The headmistress of a private
school and her husband were arrested here on Thursday in connection
with the alleged molestation of a three-year-old pre-nursery student by
its security guard, a senior police official said.
"We have taken
school headmistress Shirley Soujanya and its trust secretary and her
husband Anil Kumar into custody under sections 188 and 336 of the Indian
Penal Code for failing to protect the victim and implement the safety
guidelines," city additional police commissioner P. Harishekharan told
reporters here.
Accused guard Gautam, 25, was arrested on Tuesday
under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and
section 376 of the IPC a day after the child's parents filed a police
complaint about the crime that occured on the school campus on Monday.
"The
school management violated the mandatory guidelines enforced last year
by employing the accused without a background check and disobeying order
of a public servant (police commissioner) in ensuring safety and
security of the students," Harishekharan said.
The alleged sexual
assault came to light when the victim complained to her parents of
abdominal pain on returning home from school on Monday afternoon.
According
to preliminary investigation, the guard was working in the school for
four years and resides on school premises with his wife, an attendant in
the same school.
"The victim's elder sister, who also studies in
the school, told her parents that the guard would often call her
younger sister by name, fondle her and give chocolates to both of them,"
Harishekharan recalled.