educational institutions

private parts

Senior KG

Masina Hospital

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act

POCSO

MLA Waris Pathan

Parent Teacher Association

58-yr-old attendant sexually assaulted the child during bathroom breaks.In yet another instance that bears testimony to the rising incidents of children being brutalised inside, a five-year-old girl was admitted to a hospital with grave injuries to herallegedly inflicted by a female attendant from her school.The matter came to the fore after the girl, a student ofin a prominent Byculla school, complained of discomfort in her private parts and pain in her abdomen.According to the complaint filed by her parents, the victim had been refusing to go to school for the past two weeks.On Sunday, after she experienced excruciating pain in her stomach and private parts while urinating, the child complained to her parents. The parents rushed her towhere the doctors confirmed their worst fears - that she was sexually assaulted. During the examination, the doctors found injury marks on the fiveyear-old’s vagina, and they told the parents that it seemed like somebody had inserted an object into it.The horrified parents then quizzed the child again and prodded her to open up. The little girl finally broke down and told them about how the ‘mausi’ in her school had violated her more than once in the washroom during her bathroom breaks.According to the police, the family along with the victim approached the school’s principal on Monday and narrated the entire incident.“The principal immediately called in the girl’s class teacher and the mausi. As soon as she saw her, the girl pointed towards the mausi and once again detailed the horrific crime to the principal. The accused, however, denied the whole incident,” said a police officer.The principal then informed the police and the parents registered a case against the 58-year-old female attendant.The ‘mausi’ has been booked various Sections of The) 2012 and placed under arrest.“We suspect the woman sexually assaulted the child on more than one occasion. When the child requested to use the washroom, the accused, an attendant, was asked to accompany her. She took advantage of this and violated the girl,” said Avinash Shingte, senior police inspector of Byculla police station.The police are also probing if the woman, who has been with the school for the past 19 years and was due to retire next year, targeted any other students.“I have directed the school and the police to probe if there are any other victims. I have been told that the accused was going to retire next year. She has been with the school since 1999,” saidafter visiting the school.By evening, the heavy police presence in the school premises attracted a large crowd of worried parents. Speculations were rife with some even assuming that a student had been abducted from the school.As the news of the crime spread, members of thedemanded the school ramp up its security apparatus. Some parents alleged that even though the school has a decent CCTV cover encompassing all the classrooms and most areas, the toilets are not monitored.