A school was set ablaze by an irate mob in Malegaon on Friday, after its principal refused to meet the parents of a child who was allegedly molested by a staff member. Two police vehicles, motorcycles were also burnt down. There were no casualties as students and staff in the school were evacuated safely.

According to Malegaon police, a six-year-old girl from Mother Ayesha Primary School was allegedly molested by a sweeper of the school on April 6. The child had informed her class teacher and mother about the incident. The teacher had assured the mother that action would be taken.

However, as no action was seen taken against the 24-year-old accused Ajay Dhanke by the school, the father tried approaching the principal who refused to meet him. Enraged by this refusal and no action against the accused, the father accompanied by a few men stormed the school and started breaking furniture and vandalised it. Later, a mob gathered and set ablaze the school's computer lab. The fire soon spread, engulfing classrooms, desks and furniture inside. The premise hosts institutions from KG to PG and had about 500 students and staff members in the campus. All of them were evacuated to safety.

The word along with rumours spread in the small powerloom town and a mob of about 3000 gathered in no time. Police also had reached immediately and tried to control the situation. The mob however, went berserk and set two police vehicles and a motorcycle on fire. The situation was tense and police had to resort to mild lathi charge.

“As the mob attacked, the police rushed and first helped evacuate the students and staff inside. We tried to control the mob and calm them down but the situation was tense and companies of SRPF were deployed. The situation is under control and no one is hurt,” stated Sanjay Mohite, superintendent of police, Nashik rural.

Police and community leaders appealed to people in the town to remain calm and not respond to any rumours. Police also held a peace march and peace meetings to avoid any further flare up. Police were filing a case in the matter against the accused on the complaint of the victim’s mother and a case of rioting was also filed.