A chilling incident of alleged sexual assault has sent shockwaves through the community of Noida, India. A three-year-old girl was reportedly assaulted twice by a school worker, prompting the child’s mother to raise serious concerns about the school’s response and alleged attempts to cover up the incidents.
According to The Times of India, the accused, a 30-year-old man identified as a housekeeping staff member at the school’s junior unit, is alleged to have molested the child on two separate occasions earlier this month and a few weeks prior. The mother, speaking out on October 16th, expressed her outrage over the “serious lapse” in security that allowed such an incident to occur not once, but twice. She also alleged that the child’s teacher discouraged the minor from disclosing the abuse to her parents.
The mother recounted a harrowing account of the first incident, which occurred on October 4th. The worker, identified by the child as the person who served food in the canteen — she referred to him as “khana bhaiya” (food brother) — allegedly took the child to the school’s medical room. After locking the doors, he is alleged to have sexually assaulted the child. The mother shared that the worker “leapt from the window” when another staff member, identified as “didi” (sister), was alerted by the child’s screams.
The child, traumatized by the incident, refused to return to school on October 7th and complained of pain in her private parts. The mother took the child to a pediatrician, who advised tests for infection. The following day, the doctor informed the family that the child had been sexually abused.
Only after undergoing counseling did the child disclose the full extent of the abuse to her parents, revealing the October 4th incident and confessing that the same staff member had molested her while playing on the school playground a few weeks earlier. The child also shared that she had confided in her class teacher, who instructed her to “gharpe mat batana” (don’t tell your parents).
The mother recounted her shock and disappointment upon contacting the teacher, only to be met with attempts to dismiss the incidents. The teacher allegedly suggested that the child might have been exposed to inappropriate videos. Faced with this dismissive response, the mother contacted the police.
An FIR was filed on October 9th, and the child provided a statement to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), identifying the accused from photographs shown by the police. Based on this evidence, the accused was arrested from Nithari village on October 10th under Section 65(2) of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with rape of a child under 12 years. A notice has been issued to the school’s headmistress.
While the headmistress claimed to the paper that the parents did not inform them about the incident until they were contacted by the police on October 9th, the mother’s account raises serious questions about the school’s alleged attempts to downplay the incident and the teacher’s alleged attempt to silence the child. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for comprehensive child protection policies in schools and underscores the importance of creating safe and supportive environments for children. The authorities are continuing their investigation into the case, and the school’s response is likely to come under scrutiny in the days to come.