HC cancels bail to female teacher in Janakpuri school rape case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday cancelled the bail granted to a female teacher in a case concerning the alleged rape of a three-year-old girl by a staff member inside a private school in west Delhi’s Janakpuri area, and asked her to surrender in three days.

On June 29, the high court had also set aside the bail granted to the main accused, the caretaker of the school, and asked him to surrender on July 1.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee on Wednesday allowed the Delhi Police’s plea challenging the trial court order that granted bail to the teacher on May 20 in the case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. “The respondent is directed to surrender in three days,” Justice Banerjee said.

The teacher was arrested for allegedly concealing the incident from authorities and was remanded in one-day police custody by the trial court on May 14.

The incident came to light on May 1 when the girl’s mother filed a complaint at the Janakpuri police station, alleging that her daughter was sexually assaulted during school hours by the caretaker.

According to the complaint, the child had gone to the school on April 30, the second day after her admission.  After returning home, she complained of pain. When questioned by her mother, the girl said that she was taken to an isolated area in the school, where the man allegedly assaulted her.

Based on the complaint by the child’s mother, police registered a case under section 64(1) (punishment for rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.

Police said the child identified the accused, following which the school caretaker was arrested on May 1. He was later produced before a court and sent to judicial custody.

However, he was granted bail by a court in Dwarka on May 7 despite strong opposition from the prosecution.