In second such incident in the last couple of days, a three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the son of the owner of a playschool which she attended in West Delhi’s Hari Nagar area. The parents of victim and other people later reached school and thrashed the accused.
According to police, the incident took place on Thursday afternoon. The victim reached home and told her parents that she was unwell and suffering from stomach ache. Observing that her behaviour was different, her mother went to check in on her. She checked her clothes and saw she was bleeding from her privates. The family members rushed her to a private hospital where the doctors revealed she had been sexually assaulted. The family then approached Hari Nagar police station in the evening and registered a case.
Things turned ugly on Friday morning when a group of protesters, including the girl’s family and locals, reached the playschool and roughed up the accused. “Our team rushed to the spot and saved the 24-year-old accused, identified as Vikas, from the angry mob. He has been arrested under Section 376 of IPC and Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Ranveer Singh.
The girl in her statement to police and people from the NGO, who counselled her, said ‘Vikas bhaiyya’ touched her inappropriately after luring her into toilets and vacant rooms on the pretext of giving her toffee. Police is probing whether the accused abused other children of the playschool as well. The CCTV footage of the centre, which runs preschool classes for children below five years of age, is being examined.
The victim’s family claimed that the girl had been ill since the last three days. She was brought home and is undergoing treatment. The incident came as a shock to locals who considered the playschool to be safe for children. A number of parents had also gathered at the spot to protest worrying about their child’s safety.
The owner of the playschool was out of station and had told his son Vikas to look after the school in his absence.