Police in Bikaner lodged an FIR against eight teachers for allegedly raping a 12-year-old student. The FIR was lodged on Thursday against school teachers Vikram, Virendra, Bijendra, Vikas, Dullichand, Rohit, Pawan and Hanuman under IPC section 376 D (gangrape) and sections 5 and 6 of the POCSO Act at Bikaner’s Nokha police station.

“The incident happened in April 2015… The girl completed her class six from the school and took admission in another school this year,” Bikaner SP Amandeep Singh Kapoor said.

The student’s father in his police complaint said, “They used to make my daughter stay back after school on pretext of extra classes and rape her. They also made video clips of the act and threatened her not to reveal it to anyone. They also fed her something. She told her mother about it and we approached the panchayat. However, the teachers threatened us with dire consequences if we reported this to the police.”

The SP said that the girl’s father did not know about the incident until recently.

“In 2015, the girl had narrated the incident only to her mother. Recently, some relatives of the girl fought with the teachers, following which an FIR was lodged against the relatives on March 20. It was only then that the girl’s mother told her father about the rape,” the SP said.

“There were seven to eight of them, one is Hanuman, Bijendra, Rohit, Vikram, Pawan, Dullichand. I don’t remember the names of others. They asked me to remove my clothes and clicked photographs and made videos,” the girl told mediapersons.

“I wanted to approach the police but the teachers threatened me,” the father said.

Meanwhile, the girl was also diagnosed with blood cancer in November 2015, the SP said. “Over the next few months, she responded to the treatment but she relapsed this month and has been admitted to a hospital. We are in the process of recording their statements.”

The SP said that they are yet to question the eight teachers.

Nokha SHO Darja Ram said, “There is an ongoing dispute between the family and the school. In 2015, the teachers had once made the students do sit-ups, following which she fell ill and was eventually diagnosed with cancer. Recently, some relatives of the girl beat up the teachers. Then an FIR was lodged against her relatives. So we are still investigating the authenticity of the allegations.”

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.