Bangalore: The Bangalore police on Wednesday intensified its investigation into the sexual assault on a three-and-half-year-old girl student at a private school here.

Meanwhile, doctors have confirmed the assault.

"The doctors (at a private hospital where the girl was taken for treatment yesterday) confirmed there was a slight bruise of a very small dimension, amounting to sexual assault," Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi told reporters here.

Reddi said, "There is the statement of the child and the injury and the circumstances. At this point of time, there is no other possibility. It looks like a sexual assault."

The horrific incident has evoked protest from parents.

The school staff members were questioned and the CCTV footage was being examined by the police, as outraged parents thronged the campus of Orchid International School demanding answers from its authorities on the incident.

A criminal case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 and IPC Section 376 (rape) on a complaint from the father of the child, he said.

This is the third incident of a minor girl student being allegedly sexually assaulted on school campus in the city in the last four months.

Reddi said the girl was crying when her mother picked her up from the school at Jalahalli last noon and she was not behaving normal and had symptoms of fever.

While the girl initially told her mother that someone beat her up, she later said she was sexually assaulted, police said.

Reddi said it was difficult for the police to say they are clueless whether the crime happened on the school premises or outside. "Our objective is to detect the case and investigate fairly. It would be difficult for me to tell you we are clueless," he said.

Asked about the school management clarifying that the assault took place outside the school campus, Reddi said the police would conduct a thorough investigation despite varied opinions about the crime.

"We have spoken to all possible people including the school management....The police will do a professional investigation," he said.

Reddi said the police had contacted the school management as per the demands made by parents and its chief has been asked to visit Bangalore. The school is an inter-state institution, whose main group is from neighboring Andhra Pradesh, he said.

He also said the parents had been requested to form a small group of five to eight people, who would be in touch with the investigating authorities and management, "to tackle confusion over varied information pouring in."

Reddi said the area and the classroom in which the girl sits also have been inspected and CCTV footage seized and being examined.

"I am shocked about the news that the incident has happened in this school where the atmosphere was so good. I have come here to know from the management what has happened. I have been to this school, security is good here," a parent of a child studying in the school said.

"If it is true that the incident has happened in the school, then we will definitely support that child and try to get justice for her," another parent said.

Seeking to pacify agitated parents, the principal of the private school on Wednesday morning maintained that the institution would abide by the law and use all of its resources to nab the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

"We went through all the CCTV recordings, we are sure there was no outsider entry into the school. The police have examined each area of the school campus and have been provided all records for investigation. We take the safety of students very very carefully," she said.

"We will put all our resources and efforts to get the perpetrators of the crime whether it happens within or outside the school and we will abide by the law," she added.

Meanwhile, National Commission for Women chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam held the school accountable and demanded severe punishment for the guilty.

"We will take suo moto cognizance of this, but the police this time has acted fast," she said.

This is the third incident of a minor girl student being allegedly sexually assaulted on school campus in the city.

According to the complaint, the girl was crying when her mother picked her from the school in Jalahalli and was not behaving normal and had symptoms of fever.

While the girl initially told her mother that someone beat her up, she later said she was sexually abused.

An eight year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by her 63-year-old teacher inside her school premises over a period of time, with the offence coming to fore in early August, barely a month after the "gang-rape" of a six-year-old girl at Vibgyor High School in the city evoked public outrage.

The Vibgyor school incident saw public erupt in anger on the streets leading to police issuing stringent guidelines to schools to ensure safety of children and the government amending the Goondas Act to bring sexual offences under its ambit.

(With Agency inputs)