Bangalore school assistant arrested for raping child

Bangalore, Oct 25: Police here achieved a breakthrough Saturday in the alleged sexual abuse of a nursery student in a private

by arresting the school's office assistant after the child identified him during the investigation, a top official said.

"We have arrested office assistant Gundappa, 45, of Orchids The International School for allegedly committing the heinous crime after the victim identified him in a photo during the investigation," city police commissioner M.N. Reddi told reporters here.

Police learnt from the school management that the accused was working there since the last two years.

"Identification of the accused through pictures was conducted through a special agency and the victim's statement was recorded before a magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)," Reddi said.

As the incident involves a three-year-old girl, Reddi said the investigation team could not get more information from her as she was yet to recover from the trauma and was too young to be questioned for long.

"It is an extremely sensitive case. We could not gather more evidence from a tender victim. As the investigation is still on, we cannot reveal more in view of the case sensitivity," Reddi said.

The criminal case was registered late Tuesday under sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint by the child's father that his young daughter was molested while she was in the school.

Meanwhile, police permitted the school to reopen Monday after Reddi assured parents of their wards' safety and security.

"I have assured the parents they need not be concerned about the safety of their wards after inspecting the security measures in the school and instructing its management to ensure full compliance with our safety guidelines given to it," he said.

The school's secretary K.R.K. Reddy was arrested Friday after police registered a case against him and booked three other office bearers of the society which runs it.

"We have summoned the three office bearers for interrogation in the case, which deals with the illegal acts of the society in running the school without proper recognition from the state and central governments," Reddi said.

The office bearers -- president K. Durga, vice president Y. Shilpa and joint secretary U. Surendra Babu -- were booked under sections 418 and 420 of the IPC and section 18 (5) of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 on a complaint state education department deputy director H.B. Manjunath filed in the jurisdictional police station Thursday.

"The accused have been running the school by flouting rules, violating laws and cheating the public, parents and about 900 students without any recognition from the state or central governments," the complainant said.

IANS