The sexually assaulted child was a student of Class 2 at a school in Howrah, West Bengal.
A seven-year-old at a primary school in Bengal was sexually assaulted for nearly a month, allegedly by the school's security guard. The man was arrested today after angry parents of the school's students protested at its gates. The parents told the authorities that their daughter, a student of Class 2, had lately started refusing to go to school, located at Belur in Howrah district, adjacent to Kolkata. After much persuasion, she revealed that the security guard had been sexually abusing her.
As angry parents continued protests through morning, the situation turned so volatile that the police was called in. As they escorted the accused out of the school this afternoon, agitated parents tried to attack him.
The school authorities allegedly insisted the security guard had been employed with them for 18 years and no one had ever complained against him before.
This is the fourth case in the greater Kolkata area since December of girls being abused in schools. In this case, the school is government-run. The three other schools where similar abuse was reported were private institutions. The state education minister has said in the past that there are clear guidelines about ensuring security at schools for girls. But lacunae in the implementation have been reported.
In December, two schools in south Kolkata came under the scanner after its students complained of sexual assault. The assault on a four-year-old at the posh GD Birla school, allegedly by the school's physical education teacher, had triggered outrage. A day later, he, and another instructor, were arrested.
In November 2014, a six-year-old was assaulted at the same school. An outsider was allegedly involved in the attack.
The other school that saw one of its cleaning staff arrested for the sexual abuse of a three-year-old was the upmarket MP Birla school. The abuse had been reported in September. The school took no action. But when trouble erupted at GD Birla, parents of the MP Birla school student came forward to renew their campaign for justice. The public outrage over the issue forced the police to finally take action.
This year, on February 9, a male dance teacher at a convent school was arrested for sexually abusing a student, also of class 2.
In all three private schools, either there were no CCTVs or they had malfunctioned so there was no evidence. There is no clarity on whether the government school at Belur had any closed-circuit television network on the premises.