Bangalore child rape case: Police issue tough guidelines to schools
Under the guidelines, school buses should fix GPS and CCTV cameras and drivers should be isolated and not allowed to mingle with the children after they had parked the vehicles.
"Unnecessary interaction with the children... that should be avoided because we have found that these people also have been accused in some cases," Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddy told reporters releasing the guidelines.
Th police said the drivers should not be allowed to mingle with children
Schools are required to depute one Floor Vigilance Officer, who would sit in a transparent cabin, where he could keep a watch on "someone coming - whether children are going to bathroom, whether someone is entering classrooms. If they see any problem they will report it to the school authorities," he said.
Areas like gym and swimming pools and other sports facilities should be confined to persons who are authorised and connected with the subject they are teaching, Reddi said.
"Teachers cannot come in the skating ring and loiter around. Only the skating instructor should be there," he said, as the measures came after nearly week-long protests with public anger mounting over the shocking incident. The incident happened on July 2 at high-profile Vibgyor High School but the complaint was lodged by parents with police on July 14.
The
skating
instructor,
Mustafa,
was
arrested
a
week
later
as
the
main
accused
and
the
school
founder-chairman
Rustom
Kerawalla
was
arrested
three
days
ago
on
charge
of
suppressing
evidence
among
others.
The
incident
had
led
to
change
in
senior
top
echelon
of
police
with
Reddy
coming
in
as
city
police
chief.
"I
am
issuing
an
order
to
all
schools
including
Vibgyor
under
Karnataka
Police
Act
to
implement
the
guidelines
and
we
are
also
telling
that
if
they
do
not
implement
guidelines
they
will
be
prosecuted
under
section
188
of
the
Indian
Penal
Code
(negligence
leading
to
injury
and
danger
to
the
life
of
a
person),"
Reddi
said.
If Vibgyor did not implement the guidelines by August 14, the management will be booked under Section 188 of IPC, Reddi said, adding, the deadline for other schools is August 31.
According to the guidelines, parents who come to drop and pick children should be issued identity cards, and if they are unable to come they should furnish mobile numbers to school authorities so that they could SMS the identity of the third person who comes to pick or drop children, Reddi said.
A rash of rape cases in the city in recent days had triggered public outrage and revulsion over rising number of sexual offences against women and children, with government coming under fire for not doing enough to curb them.
Apart from the school incident, a 22-year woman was allegedly raped on July 10 midnight when she was seated in a car with her friend as four persons forcibly entered their car and drove them away with one of them committing the crime.
In another incident, a 15-year old nun was allegedly raped in a seminary. No arrest has been made in the incident. The incidents had rocked both houses of the Karnataka Legislature as the opposition hauled the government over the coals, demanding resignation of Home Minister K J George.
PTI