CHANDIGARH: An eight-year-old girl studying in class 2 was allegedly raped by a class 10 student of a private convent co-educational school in Beas town near Amritsar.
The boy has been arrested by the Punjab Police and send to Juvenile home. But hundreds of protesters today staged a protest against the school authorities blocking the national highway (NH-1) demanding that a criminal case be registered against the school management.
The agitated protestors demanded action against the management for its failure to prevent the crime and forcing the victim's parents not to report the incident to the police.
Several social organisations also joined the protest. Also, business establishments, including shops remained closed in this small town.
Sources said the eight-year-old girl was raped on December 13.
The girl's mother told the police that child was dropped by her father at the school around 8 am on Friday.
Later, they received a call from the school that she was crying. The family then rushed to the school, where they were told that a boy had allegedly harassed her.
The mother added that upon returning home the girl complained about pain in her private organs and it was then they came to know that she was sexually harassed.
A case has been registered under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POSCO) Act. The boy was produced in the court and sent to juvenile home.
"The school authorities forced the victim's parents not to lodge the police complaint. The victim's family, which is poor, also left the place to an undisclosed location," alleged a woman protester, whose child is studying the school.
Expressing concern about the safety of the school children, another protester demanded the arrest of the school principal for negligence. A girl student committed suicide in the school five years back. She was also the victim of rape. The matter was not reported to the police owing to the influence of the school," she alleged.