Illustration for representational purpose.

NEW DELHI: After some days of acting strangely, seeking isolation and refusing to speak to his parents, a nine-year-old student of a private school in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar finally told his mother and sister that he was being sexually molested by older students during their ride home in the school bus. The child claimed that he had even complained to the teacher accompanying the students in the bus, but she had laughed it off saying his seniors were joking with him since he was a cute-looking boy.

The parents approached the school but their concern was initially ignored by the authorities. Left with no option, they went to the cops. It was then that the school authorities claimed to have dismissed the teacher and rusticated the three students involved. “We are cooperating with the police in this case,” the vice-principal of the school told TOI on Tuesday.

According to the parents, the first incident took place on July 27, when the boy was returning home in the school bus. In his statement to the cops, the tot said that three teenaged boys from Classes VII, IX and X summoned him to the rear of the bus and forced him to sit on their laps. He alleged that the senior students unzipped his trousers and sexually assaulted him.

The boy managed to free himself and ran back to his seat. However, terrified by what had happened, he did not report the matter to his parents. The next day, the teenagers repeated the act. When he resisted, the Class X student beat him. The boy went and complained about it to the teacher in charge of the bus, but could not explain what had happened in detail. The teacher allegedly pinched his cheek and assured him he was being teased for being so cute.

The boy’s family noticed his abnormal behaviour at home. “When we asked him what was wrong, he ran to his room and lay down,” said the mother. On July 29, on returning from school, the kid started behaving violently and even threatened to kill himself. When the child’s mother and sister calmed him down and spoke to him, he broke down and narrated his ordeal to them and has refused to go to school since.

“We approached the school, but instead of helping us the authorities persuaded us not to register a complaint,” the mother claimed. The family, therefore, approached the Vivek Vihar police station and registered a complaint on Monday evening. A case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. After medical examination, the doctors confirmed the sexual assault.

The parents claimed they received a call from the school after this, requesting them to resolve the case with the parents of the accused teens. Police said that a few people, including the teacher and bus attendant, were being questioned. The victim and the accused are all being counselled.

