Delhi: Minor girl raped by MCD school peon, 3 others

The peon of a municipal school in east Delhi allegedly sedated, abducted and raped a 10-year-old girl along with three accomplices, police said on Thursday, announcing the arrest of the main suspect while the other accused are still to be traced.

The peon of a municipal school in east Delhi allegedly sedated, abducted and raped a 10-year-old girl along with three accomplices, police said on Thursday, announcing the arrest of the main suspect while the other accused are still to be traced.

The girls had gone to a village fair when they were allegedly raped. (Representative Image)

The girl, a Class 5 student, was assaulted on March 14, officials said, describing her condition as “severely traumatised”.

“We have arrested the 54-year-old peon, Ajay Kumar, from his house and are trying to identify and nab the other three suspects,” said Amrutha Guguloth, deputy commissioner of police (east). The police said they were informed about the crime by school authorities on Wednesday.

Police said the girl named the peon as one of the perpetrators but could not identify the other suspects due to her current state. “The peon is the only suspect she could identify as he is employed in the same school,” said Guguloth.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in a statement, said it had suspended Kumar, based on a report of the incident submitted by a two-member committee. MCD said school authorities made “all efforts” to get parents to pursue legal action in the matter, but the latter were reluctant to file a complaint either with the school authorities or the police.

MCD’s enquiry found delays by school authorities in informing “higher authorities”.

“Show cause notices to the principal and the class teacher have also been issued for not taking any prompt action i.e. not informing the higher authorities immediately,” the MCD said.

On Thursday, Anurag Kundu, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), said the commission has issued a notice to the education department and the police in the matter and sought a report from police and MCD.

During interrogation, the peon denied being involved in the crime. “We are working to collect technical evidence in the case,” the DCP said.

The assault left the girl injured, but the injuries are not life-threatening, the police said. She remains traumatised though and is being offered psychological therapy, the officer said. “We are working to gather information and evidence without triggering her trauma,” Guguloth said.

A native of Khoda in Ghaziabad, Kumar was employed at the school for 10 years, and there were no known previous cases against him, police said. But they are investigating if he abused any other student in the past, the official said.

The child lives with her parents, who work odd jobs, and an older brother.

The DCP quoted the child as saying that Kumar led her out of the school on March 14. “Since she knew Kumar well, she went with him,” the officer said, adding that the child hasn’t been able to share specific details of how she was lured out.

The girl hasn’t been able to pinpoint the location of the crime either, but since the duo walked to the point, the police believe it was not far from the school.

At the crime spot, the DCP said, she was injected with sedatives before four men took turns to rape her. After the alleged assault, Kumar allegedly brought her back to the school.

The girl returned home from school injured that day, and narrated the incident to her mother. But the family, ostensibly worried about reputation and the child’s future, decided not to involve the police, the DCP said.

MCD said that, the next day, the child was absent for her annual examination. “The class teacher called the child’s mother to check about her absence. Initially, her mother said the girl is suffering from stomach problems. But later she told the class teacher about the sexual assault by Kumar,” said an MCD official.

The police said that it was the child’s brother who informed school authorities about the assault. A teacher subsequently informed the principal, who in turn confronted the peon. The principal chose to alert education department authorities instead of informing the police, the officer added.

MCD said that, on March 15 and 16, the school principal “tried hard” to prepare the parents to come to school to identify the assaulters and file a police case but the parents were unwilling.

This crime comes close on the heels of a similar incident in which an eight-year-old child was allegedly raped at least twice by a sports teacher in another municipal school in east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar.

Guguloth said that, in that case too, school authorities had delayed in informing the police. “We have written to the education department to sensitise school authorities so that such delays are not repeated. We have also urged them to strategically install CCTV cameras in the schools,” the DCP said.