BANGALORE: The Vibgyor High child rape case took an unexpected turn on Tuesday, with the police exonerating a skating instructor in custody and arresting two others for the crime.
City Police Commissioner
M N Reddi, who addressed reporters, said Mustafa, arrested earlier, was not on the scene when the rape took place. “The rape has turned out to be a gang-rape,” he disclosed.
Based on extensive investigations, which involved talking to the victim and scanning all available CCTV footage, police have arrested Lal Giri (21) and Waseem Pasha (28).
Lal Giri, a resident of Bommanahalli, has worked in the school for two years, while Waseem Pasha (28), a resident of Marathahalli and native of Gulbarga, has been around for three years.
The police have booked the two under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code (see box) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) dealing with penetrative sexual assault. Reddi said they had confessed to the rape during the interrogation. Once the other children had left the gym that day, they made a Class 1 student stay back and raped her, according to the police.
“This is also proved from the other evidence and the victim’s statement,” Reddi said.
Earlier, it was assumed the incident had taken place on July 2, but it actually took place on July 3, he said. No other case is pending against the two just-arrested gym instructors.
“Mustafa was booked for misbehaviour at Deen’s Academy in Whitefiled, from where he was sacked earlier. That case will continue. In the present case, investigations have ruled out Mustafa’s direct involvement,” Reddi said. “We are investigating whether he had any indirect role in the present case,” a police official said.
Reddi said that police had arrested Mustafa on the basis of circumstantial evidence available when the crime came to light.
Meanwhile, the police produced Pasha and Lal Giri before a magistrate at his residence, and sought their custody till August 1. The magistrate granted police the custody.
From rape to gang-rape, here’s how the case has panned out
July 3: Six-year-old girl is sexually abused by staff on campus
July 13: Mother takes her
to hospital for a different
problem. Doctors tell
her about the rape
July 14: Parents file police complaint in Varthur
July 15: Hundreds of parents gherao school and take to the streets
July 17: Chairman Rustom Kerawalla tries to pacify parents and later disappears
July 20: Mustafa, a skating instructor, is arrested for the rape. Police search for Kerawalla
July 22: Kerawalla is arrested in Daman, near Gujarat
July 23: Kerawalla produced before a magistrate on charges of tampering with evidence and failure to report the crime. He is released on bail the same day
July 28: Lal Giri and Waseem Pasha arrested for gang-rape. Police exonerate Mustafa