Mumbai: Parents of a 3.6-year-old girl from Malad West who was allegedly sexually assaulted within her school premises on February 12 have approached the high court, alleging inaction by the Bangur Nagar police and seeking a thorough investigation into the matter by a competent authority.
According to the petition, the girl complained of acute discomfort and inflammation in her abdomen after returning from school at around 6.30pm on February 12. She told her mother that a (male) “monster” at school had “rubbed” (molested) her, following which the parents promptly contacted the school authorities for redressal. They also took the girl to a private hospital, where a junior doctor examined her and asked her to return the next day for consultation with a senior doctor.
“The next day, a senior gynaecologist corroborated the initial concerns raised by us and confirmed that the matter needed to be investigated from a sexual assault point of view and a medico-legal case was warranted,” the petition said.
Subsequently, the girl’s parents filed a complaint at the Bangur Nagar police station, seeking registration of a First Information Report (FIR). They also approached the state-run Cooper Hospital, where an examination confirmed the possibility of sexual assault. Yet, the police hesitated to register an FIR and showed little inclination to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation even though the girl had named the culprits in her statement recorded before a magistrate, the petition said.
The petition further said that although an FIR was registered under the POCSO Act, no arrests were made even after 30 days since the incident.
“The police failed to secure video footage promptly and initially withheld information about the sickbay room and its attached washroom, raising serious concerns about their potential involvement in concealing crucial evidence. The school too refused to disclose all CCTV footage, delaying the review process, and intentionally concealed the existence of a second washroom,” said the petition. The police also failed to conduct a thorough investigation of not just the girl’s clothes but also the school premises, the petition noted.
Anil Thackrey, senior police inspector from Bangur Nagar police station, denied the allegations of inaction, saying they had registered an FIR against an unknown person and recovered CCTV footage from the day of incident as well as before and after that.
“No suspects are seen in the CCTV footage, which we have handed over to the parents as per their request. But they also want CCTV footage of the school’s first floor and the sick room, which the girl did not visit,” said Thackrey. “We are conducting the investigation and trying to find the suspect,” he said.