NOIDA: A three-year-old student who was sexually assaulted allegedly by a housekeeping staffer of a frontline school’s junior wing on campus earlier this month was molested by the same man a few weeks ago, the child’s mother told on Wednesday, highlighting the serious lapse that allowed a predator to target her daughter twice and questioning the school administration’s attitude and response since the incident came to light.
The mother said that on October 4, the school worker took the child to the medical room, locked the doors, and sexually molested the youngster.
He allegedly jumped out of the window and fled when another employee — a ‘didi’ — heard the youngster scream and approached. The mother stated the child was eventually brought back to class by a teacher, but when questioned about the incident, she speculated that the daughter had seen some indecent movies online.
She claimed her daughter refused to attend school on October 7 and complained of pain in her private areas. “We took her to a pediatrician, and the doctor prescribed various tests to check for infection. “The next day, the doctor informed us that there was no infection, but the child had been sexually assaulted,” she claimed.
After counseling, the youngster informed her parents that a guy who provided meals to the students at school — referred to as ‘khana bhaiya’ — had pricked her private parts with a stick when she arrived at school on October 4.
“‘Bhaiya danda karte hai,’ she said repeatedly. That’s when she informed us that it was the second time he had done so. “A few weeks ago, the same man molested the child while she was on a slide in the school playground,” the mother stated.
The child, she explained, had reported the event to her class teacher but was advised ‘gharpe mat batana’ (don’t tell anyone at home about it).
“I called the class teacher on October 8 and inquired about the two events. To my astonishment, the teacher sought to dismiss the incident, claiming that my daughter may have seen an improper video online and is recounting the events as her own. “I was taken aback and asked the teacher that watching a video would not cause my daughter pain, redness, and rashes in her private parts,” the mother claimed, adding that she went to the police after that.
The family filed a complaint at Sector 20 police station the same day, and a FIR was issued on October 9.
The child’s statement was recorded before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and she identified the accused based on a series of photos presented to her by police as part of the investigation. On October 10, the 30-year-old housekeeping staffer was detained from Nithari village under BNS Section 65(2) (rape of a woman under the age of 12). CWC member Dipti Yadav stated that the committee delivered a notice to the school and summoned the headmistress on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the school’s headmistress informed that they learned of the alleged sexual assault when a police team visited the school on October 9. “The parents did not talk to us about the incident before this,” she told me.
Deputy CP Rambadan Singh stated in their complaint that the parents did not specify that the class teacher had been informed about the incident earlier.
The family stated that they will withdraw their child from school.
(The victim’s identify has not been publicized to safeguard her privacy per Supreme Court guidelines on matters linked to sexual assault.)
