BENGALURU: Violence erupted at a private aided school in Bengaluru South on Tuesday over the alleged sexual assault of a Standard II student by a physical education teacher, with angry protesters demanding that he be handed over to them and police resorting to lathicharge and lobbing of teargas shells to keep the crowd at bay.
The rape issue came to light on Wednesday, when the parents came to the school after their seven-year-old child refused to go to the school. The couple complained to the management against a physical education teacher and demanded that he be handed over to them.
When the school authorities refused to do so and started calling police, the angry parents went in and started beating up the accused.
As the news spread, the parents of more students, their relatives and friends rushed in. Soon, the narrow road leading to the school became crowded.
Police reached the spot after 10 am. By then, the mob had turned unruly with over 200 people joining the parents in protest.
Protesters started pelting stones and ransacked the school premises, when the police locked up the accused and other staff inside the building to save them from the mob. They also set three motorcycles parked outside the school compound on fire. A police bike and a media van were set afire.
In the melee, classroom furniture was broken and computers and photo frames were thrown out.
The presence of 300-member strong police force did not deter the mob.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar suffered injuries on his hand. A police constable, who he tried to protect Kumar, was severely injured.
DCP (West) Labhu Ram was also manhandled. Inspector (Upparpete) Prakash, Kengeri Gate ACP Santhyanarayana Kudur and Rajarajeshwari Nagar Inspector Manjunath were injured in stone-pelting.
The police soon resorted to lathicharge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd. The teacher, who was finally handed over to the police, was pulled out of the police jeep and assaulted by public. After much struggle, cops managed to take the 49-year-old teacher into custody and also sent the child for medical examination.
However, no complaint has been filed by the parents regarding the alleged sex abuse. “We have not received such a complaint against any of our staff so far. The particular teacher has been working with us for the past several years and no complaint has been lodged against him till date. Let the inquiry reveal the truth,” said the school trustee.
“If the girl was really abused, why did the parents not prefer a police complaint? This is not the way to deal with the case. I think some miscreants misused the situation and created a mess,” said Zabbar, a parent.
“The private school did not have CCTV cameras installed. The area is limping back to normal and the jurisdictional police have been directed to conduct a detailed probe,” said City Police Commissioner M N Reddi.