Police and school authorities clashed on Saturday after a four-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted at her school here.
The police resorted to baton charge after the school authorities tried to prevent their entering the campus to conduct a probe. The police further allege that the CCTV cameras in the campus have also been removed by the school officials.
"According to her family, the girl suffered some injury on her private parts. A medical test was conducted and the samples have been sent to pathology lab. The father of the victim said that if anything wrong is found in the medical test, he will file an FIR (First Information Report). He came to police station and registered a complaint and police are investigating the incident," Gorakhpur city magistrate Satish Pal told the media.
The family member of the victim said that when the girl returned home from school, they noticed blood stains on her clothes. On being asked about it, the girl said she was feeling unwell. Sensing something wrong, the parents took the daughter to a physician.
The victim's father said the accused should be arrested as soon as possible and must face stern penal action. He added that the infrastructure of all the schools, especially where girls study, should be reviewed and if anything wrong is found, that school should be sealed.
"My daughter studies in nursery. She went to school yesterday and an untoward incident happened with her. She suffered injuries in her private parts. When we asked her, she said she was not feeling well. We came to school to find out about the actual incident but the school authorities couldn't say anything. We took our daughter for a medical check-up. The doctor told us that she has been sexually assaulted and we should file a complaint with the police," he said.
The father further said that the school authorities were trying to suppress the incident and even bribed the local women's healthcare centre for the girl's medical test. But due to the pressure of locals and the media, finally an FIR was registered.
This is the second such incident in the country in less than a month, after reports of the alleged rape of a three-year-old at a private school in Bangalore shook the nation.