DCW issues notice to Tagore Public School, demands death penalty for perpetrator

In the wake of the alleged rape of a five-year-old girl in Delhi's Tagore Public School, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued a notice to the school, demanding a reply within 72 hours along with the available CCTV footage.

Speaking to ANI, DCW chief Swati Maliwal, while condemning the aforementioned incident as well as the death of a seven-year old student of Gurugram's Ryan International School, said death penalty must be immediately issued to the perpetrators, as this would instill a sense of fear in them.

"It is a shame to see such incidents repeatedly. We demand that enquiry be completed at the earliest possible and death penalty be awarded to the perpetrators, so that they will understand that such cases cannot be excused. We have issued a notice to the Delhi school, to which we expect a reply within 72 hours. If any CCTV cameras are installed, a copy of the footage must also be provided .We want to know how the man had access to the girl in the first place," said Swati.

Deeming the incident to be a 'major setback' to the Centre's 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', Maliwal said the school needs to retrospect into the matter and state why no protocols were made in the first place, adding that it is time for the Centre to intervene in the matter.

Condemning the death of seven-year old Pradhyuman Thakur of Ryan International School, Maliwal opined that strict action needs to be taken against the management, as this is the second time such an incident is being reported.

"The Centre must intervene and make the necessary protocol. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also ordered magisterial inquiry. The protocol instated must be followed without fail, and any school violating the same must be penalized. How can we have Beti Bachao Beti Padhao when schools itself are not safe for these children? Parents now fear sending their children to school, as they are not sure of their children's safety," she added.

The last two days has borne witness to severe atrocities against innocent lives, as two young children fell prey to sexual predators, in two separate incidents.

Seven-year-old Pradyuman, a student of Class II in Ryan International School, was killed by the school bus conductor on Friday.

On the other hand, a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped inside the premises of Tagore Public School in Gandhi Nagar, Delhi, on Sunday.

Following this, the DCW issued a notice to the school, stating that it has taken suo-moto cognizance of a news article dated September 10 regarding the rape of a five year old girl in a school in Gandhi Nagar, East Delhi, and has instituted an enquiry into the matter.

The DCW has sought clarity on the following:

-Whether the accused person was an employee of the school. If yes, please inform the role assigned to him? When was he appointed in the school? Please provide all details of his appointment;

-Whether the school had done police verification this man? If yes, please provide relevant documents;

-Where did the incident take place? How did the accused person get the access to the girl at the place of incident?

-Whether the school was aware of the incident. If yes, inform the steps taken by the school against the accused person, whether police was informed by the school;

-Whether the complaints of abuse against the accused had been received in the past. If yes please provide copies of complaints as well as reasons for non-persecution of the accused till date.

-Detailed report of the incident including the sequence of events.

-Whether the school has planned to conduct counseling sessions of other students to interrogate the occurrence of similar offence with other children;

-List of male staff/contract workers (teaching and non-teaching) in the school along with their designation/roles, who have access to girl students;

-Steps taken by the school to ensure safety of the children in the school;

-Copy of entire CCTV footage of the day of the incident from the school;

The DCW has demanded a reply from the school 'not later than September 13, 2017 at 3 PM in a sealed cover', the notice stated.