Poliec say an initial investigations suggest an unidentified man tried to assault a child.
Less than two weeks after the horrific murder of Pradyuman Thakur at Gurgaon's Ryan International School, a nine-year-old was molested in the toilet of a private school in Panipat. The man, the girl told her relatives, was one of the five sweepers of the school, who had been dressed in a green T-shirt.
A relative of the child said she told the parents that the man had tried to assault her sexually. He had also threatened her, demanding that she keep her silence or "worse will happen". The principal of the school, the relative also told reporters, had tried to hush up the matter, asking the parents not to complain to the police.
Seven-year-old Pradyuman's throat was slit inside the school toilet, allegedly by a driver of the school bus who initially tried to sexually assault him. The police said the man had confessed to killing Pradyuman after he offered resistance.
The police said the teachers found the girl, a student of Class 4, crying yesterday and called in her parents. Preliminary investigations suggest that the man tried to sexually assault her but the exact sequence of events is yet to be understood, reported news agency Press Trust of India, quoting a police officer.
"We are questioning the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school and trying to verify details from the CCTV cameras," PTI quoted her as saying.
As parents held protests outside the school, an official of the Education Department met the school's principal and staff members. He said the authorities are examining CCTV footage from the school and the department will take action against the school "if lapses are found".
Security of children in schools has become a matter of huge concern following a spate of sexual assaults on students over the last few years. After the murder of Pradyuman, six central ministries have started working on a plan for school safety.
Earlier this week, the Central Board of Secondary Education or CBSE ordered that schools will have to ensure that all their staff, teaching and non-teaching, will have to undergo psychiatric tests and police verification. More than 10,000 schools across the country are under CBSE control.