4-yr-old ‘raped’ in Dhuri school

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, May 26

A four-year-old was allegedly raped at a local private school in Dhuri town of the district on Saturday evening. A helper, Kamal Kumar, in the school has been arrested.

After the news of the incident spread in the area, protests erupted in the town and the situation remained tense throughout the day on Sunday. The residents protested in front of the Dhuri city police station, seeking the accused’s custody to teach him a lesson and action against the school management.

The incident took place on Saturday, when the victim along with her mother went to the school to attend a parent-teacher meeting. The victim started playing in the park of the school following which the accused took her to a nearby room and allegedly raped her and abandoned her. In the evening, when the girl complained of stomach ache, her parents took her to a hospital, where she was given some medicine and sent back.

However, the victim again complained of pain in her stomach on Sunday morning after which the parents got suspicious and asked her some questions. The victim then narrated them the whole incident. The parents then took the girl to the Dhuri Civil Hospital and started a protest in front of the police station.

After getting the information, Dhuri DSP Mohit Aggarwal along with other senior officers reached the police station and launched raids and arrested the accused within one and half hours.

The protest, however, continued till evening and more police force had to be deputed the city from the surrounding police stations to prevent any untoward incident.

“Strict action must be taken against the accused and the school management. The state government must cancel the affiliation of the school and shut it down permanently,” said Harpal Singh Cheema, Leader of Opposition, who along with other AAP leaders reached Dhuri and assured support to the parents of the victim.

Meanwhile, Sangrur SSP Sandeep Garg said the police had registered a case against the accused under Section 376 AB of the IPC and started further investigation.

“We arrested the accused within one and half hours, but the locals kept demanding his custody. During the preliminary probe, it was found that the CCTVs in the school were not working. Our team will conduct a thorough probe about the role of the school management and those found guilty won’t be spared,” the SSP added.

The protest outside the police station was on at the time of the filing of report.

‘No law and order’  

Chandigarh: SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday alleged that the law and order was in a shambles in the state. Expressing shock over the alleged rape of a four-year-old girl, Sukhbir said this was not a one-off incident. “There have been shocking incidents of rape and murder throughout the state and there is no security of life and property here,” he said. tns