Bengaluru: In a breakthrough in the child molestation case, the Bengaluru police on Thursday detained a staff member of the International School. He has not been formally arrested, but is under detention. Also, a criminal case has been filed against the school.
The detained person is reportedly an attendant aged around 45 years. Sources say that the child has identified him as `the uncle’ who abused her. The principal of the school had on Wednesday maintained that no staff had been involved and that the incident took place outside the school premises. This has now been proved wrong.
The police, however, refused to comment on the details as they wanted to make the arrest foolproof after having goofed up earlier by arresting the wrong man, a gym instruction, in a child molestation case that took place in August.
According to the police complaint filed by her father, the child “had signs of fever and complained to her mother that she was physically abused by someone she did not know or recognise.”
The police registered a case of rape on the father’s complaint. “We have registered a criminal case late Tuesday on a complaint by the victim’s father that his young daughter was sexually abused in the Orchid International School premises,” said Police Inspector TC Venkatesh.
“We are checking the footage of CCTV cameras and questioning the staff and faculty,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Dean of Orchid came down from Hyderabad and was questioned by the police even as agitated parents continued to protest against the crime.
The parents were furious at the sub-standard safety measures in place in the institution.
Meanwhile, the school has run into more trouble as it is not affiliated to national boards like the CBSE or ICSE. While the school website says the syllabus is based on both these boards, it doesn’t clearly mention if it has affiliation.
The school, which started functioning two years ago, has been booked for running classes beyond the sanctioned limit; it reportedly had a license to run only classes 1 to 6. The school is allegedly running the nursery section illegally and has been asked to explain.
