Hyderabad: Driver arrested, school principal absconding in 4-year-old girl sexual assault case

A four year old girl student, studying LKG, was sexually assaulted by the school principal's driver in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills. While the driver has been arrested, the school principal who is booked for negligence is absconding.

Hyderabad: A four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by her principal's driver in the city's upscale Banjara Hills. The suspect, a 34-year-old, was given a sound thrashing before being handed over to the police after the matter came to light. The assault was carried out within the school premises during school hours.

The suspect had been formally arrested by the Banjara Hills Police and was produced before a City court. The school principal who was being accused of being negligent about the repetitive sexual assault being meted out to one of her students was booked as one of the co-accused. She remains at large and a hunt is on to nab her.

The incident came to light when the girl came home crying after the assault and revealed the ordeal to her mother. When taken to school the next day, the girl pointed at the accused, following which the parents filed a complaint with the Banjara Hills police who immediately arrested the accused on Tuesday. The police have imposed charges of rape, kidnapping and violation of provisions of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Banjara Hills ACP Sudershan said the incident was reported from a private school in the Banjara Hills and the investigation into the offence had already begun. "The victim has been sent to the Bharosa Centre. We have also registered a case against the school principal. The matter was reported by the mother of the victim," Sudershan said.

"The accused used to get hold of the victim since three months, sometimes he took her from class room to digital class room. While doing so, he took her inside to a room in the school, pressing her neck and removing her clothes and touching her private parts and sexually harassing her," a statement from the police said.

In the registered complaint, it is mentioned that the incident was carried out in the lab located opposite the principal’s chamber on Monday. The complainant also mentioned that the accused lured the girl with chocolate and assaulted the victim inside the digital lab at school. The police have collected CCTV footage from the classroom and will be poring over it as part of the investigation.

The incident has created an outrage among the parents of the students at school, who stormed the school premises on Tuesday demanding strict action. They also pulled up the principal for his negligence and for allowing the driver to enter the school premises where he had no academic role to perform.

The school administration, meanwhile, is reportedly contemplating holidays for the next three days and security was beefed-up around the school amid outrage. Meanwhile, Telangana BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar who joined issue with the parents had urged the police top brass to take stringent actions in the case.