A girl studying in Class 2 in the Goan town of Vasco was raped by an unknown youth in a toilet inside her school on Monday, sparking widespread protests in the town on Tuesday which led to the arrest of the headmistress of the school for negligence.
Police sources said that a youth had entered the school, from a back gate, and had taken the girl to the toilet and sexually assaulted her. After recess she complained of pain and told her teacher that a man had hurt her and “pinched” her.
The school’s headmistress was immediately informed who called the girl’s parents and later, the police. Medical examination conducted on the seven-year-old in the evening confirmed that she had been raped.
While addressing the media in the evening, chief minister Manohar Parrikar said that the accused, who is still at large, had actually been seen by some staff before he had committed the crime and had even been produced before the headmistress who had only asked him to leave. “The headmistress should have locked all the gates instead of asking him to leave,” said Mr Parrikar, holding the headmistress responsible. He added that crime branch had been directed to probe the rape.
While a huge crowd gathered outside the school by Monday evening accusing the authorities of laxity and condemning the delay in sending the girl for a medical check-up, the situation escalated on Tuesday with the crowds asking for headmistress to be sacked.
On Tuesday, Crime Branch officials arrested the headmistress of the school for inordinately delaying registration of a First Information Report (FIR). “The crime branch will probe the complaint of rape and negligence by the headmistress separately,” the chief minister said.