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Updated: Sep 03, 2019 23:46 IST

MEERUT An eight-year-old girl, a student of Class 3, was gangraped inside the toilet of a primary school allegedly by three senior boys from the same school, aged 10, 11 and 12, in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district, 54 kms from Delhi, on August 16.

The incident came to light after the girl’s health deteriorated and she had to be admitted to a local hospital on Friday and then referred to a hospital in Baghpat city on Monday.

The accused, all brothers and students of classes 5, 7 and 8, were taken into custody on Tuesday while the in-charge of the local police station, who allegedly discouraged the girl’s parents from filing a complaint against the accused, has been shunted out, said superintendent of police (SP), Baghpat, Pratap Gopendra Yadav.

According to the girl’s uncle, she was playing on the school campus during the lunch break when two of the boys approached her and took her to the toilet where the eldest was already present.

After the incident, the girl approached her teacher but was told to stay silent, the uncle added.

“The same evening, the parents visited the school but the teacher denied that anything had happened and asked them to leave,” he said.

The parents then approached the Ramala police station with their complaint but were told by the station house officer (SHO), Naresh Kumar, to reach a compromise with the family of the accused boys, he added.

“A few days later, the parents against approached the police but were told that the school teacher had complained against them for misbehaving with her. The police told them the complaint would be withdrawn if they submitted in writing that nothing had happened with the girl at school,” the uncle said.

He also alleged that the police took away the girl for around three hours during which they pressurised her to say that nothing had happened and even filmed her saying so.

HT has seen the video clip where a policewoman is shown interrogating the girl.

The SP said an enquiry has been ordered into the incident.

Meanwhile, the girl developed septic infection and her condition deteriorated.

SHO Kumar said, “The girl’s parents had told us twice in writing that nothing had happened with their daughter. We even have a video of the girl saying this.”

The girl’s uncle alleged that on Sunday, a panchayat was organised in their village where a relative was pressurised into signing a statement that the girl was not raped. “The kin of the accused threatened our relative and said they would harm the family,” claimed the uncle.

He said the first information report (FIR) was finally registered after the girl’s family approached the SP twice.

SP Yadav said the accused had been charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The school authorities could not be contacted for comment.