Bangalore:
Anger and protests over the alleged rape of a six-year-old at an elite school in Bangalore have jolted the Karnataka government.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will chair a law and order meeting today, a day after furious parents protested at Vibgyor High School, where a Class 1 student was allegedly raped by two gym instructors on July 2 during school hours. The child had reportedly left the classroom to use the washroom when she was attacked.
The incident was reported a week later. A police officer has said three people have been detained and the role of the school is also being examined.
Protesters yesterday broke down locked school gates and entered the building as the police tried to restrain them.
The parents refused to budge until the school's chairman, Rustam Kerawalla came out and promised more safety. "We will install CCTVs and ensure background checks of staff," he told the protesters, many of them working parents who had never before worried about their children during school hours.
A form sent by many schools in the city declaring that they can't be held responsible for the safety of students has incensed parents even more. Parents have been asked to sign a form that the school's staff or teachers can't be held responsible for "damage to loss of property, sickness or injury from 'whatever source' legal entanglements, loss of life or money..."
This is the second incident this month to highlight severe lapses in schools in one of India's most cosmopolitan cities. Last week, a six-year-old in another school was picked up from school by her own aunt who later murdered her over a family dispute.