School trustee accused of sexual assault cannot enter campus: Bombay HC

The trustee was arrested in 2017 for allegedly sexually assaulting a three-year-old student, who has since moved to another school.

The Bombay high court (HC) has barred the trustee of an Andheri school from entering the school premises, after he was accused of sexually assaulting a student. The court on Monday asked the trustee to restrain himself from entering the school premises until the case is heard.

Parents who saw the accused back on school premises after his release went immediately to the police (Representational photo)

The trustee was arrested in 2017 for allegedly sexually assaulting a three-year-old student, who has since moved to another school. In May 2017, the parents of the student accused the trustee, a French national, of sexually assaulting the child.

While a first information report (FIR) was filed at the local police station, the trustee was arrested six months after the parents of the victim filed a writ petition in court. However, he was granted bail within a month and had reported back to duty by December 2017.

“The minute we saw him back on campus, we went straight to the police again, seeking help in keeping our children safe from such a predator,” said a parent. “We were shocked when the trustee coolly walked back into the school campus, barely a couple of weeks after he was released on bail by the sessions court,” said another parent.

Last week, HT had reported on the bail cancellation plea filed by the child’s parents with the Bombay HC. Other parents intervened in the plea.

On Monday, Justice Revati Mohite-Dere, who was presiding over the plea also directed state’s officer, who had appeared before the sessions court in November, to file an affidavit on the prosecution’s statement made before the sessions court during the bail hearing.

A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court is hearing the criminal case while the high court is looking at the bail application. There was no response to the emails sent to the school management on Monday.

(With inputs from PTI)