Representative image.

GHAZIABAD: When the shocking incident of rape of a four-year-old by a classmate at a Dwarka school was reported about two weeks ago, it was considered as an aberration. However, it may only have served to lift the lid over what could be a widespread crime.

On Sunday, December 3, police registered an FIR in Sahibabad police station , following a complaint by the father of a seven-year-old girl (studying in Class II) who alleged she had been sexually assaulted by a schoolmate in a washroom of a school in Ghaziabad . TOI is not revealing the name of the school to protect its identity.

The incident, which reportedly took place on November 8, came to light after a woman doctor figured out the crime when her family took the girl over to her for treatment on December 1. The FIR has been registered against an 'unidentified person' under IPC Section 376 (rape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, as the girl could not name the accused.

On Monday, Ghaziabad police accompanied the girl to her school along with her parents, where she identified the accused in the presence of the school principal and teachers, as a boy studying in Class V. It has been alleged in the complaint that the boy had inserted a 'wooden twig' inside the girl's private parts, inflicting injuries.

The girl's father, who works in a gas agency in Ghaziabad, told TOI she had been bleeding from her private parts since November 8. "We took her for a check-up to a local doctor, who did not find anything seriously amiss with her. We thought the bleeding could be a result of eating hot and spicy food, and changed her diet. However, it didn't stop. On Friday, we took her to a female doctor, who confirmed sexual assault. The doctor took her into confidence at her clinic, following which she narrated the sequence of events," her father told TOI.

Ghaziabad police had a medical examination of the girl conducted on Monday. Its report is awaited. "On November 8, classes were dismissed at around 10am due to smog. The school management called up parents and asked them to take their kids back home. Around 15 students could not go back immediately. My daughter was huddled in a classroom along with other students, who were all waiting for their parents. The boy, who was also waiting for his parents, followed my daughter to the washroom, where he committed the crime," her father added.

The school management said an inquiry was being conducted into the incident.

