Bangalore : In a sordid twist, the rape of a six-year-old child of upmarket Vibgyor School has turned to be one of gang rape. Parents of the wards studying in the school were shell-shocked to react at the inhuman act.
In a fresh twist to the case, the police here have arrested two gym instructors for gang raping the child and almost gave a clean chit to Mustafa, the skating instructor who was arrested earlier.
Addressing the media here, City Police Commissioner M N Reddi said: “A complaint of rape has turned out to be a case of gang rape after the arrest of two more persons in the Vibgyor High School case.”
Amidst howls of disbelief and anger from parents, Reddi said the two accused — Lalgiri Indragiri, 21, of Bommanahalli and Wasim Pasha Moula Attara, 28, of Basavanagar — gym instructors, were arrested and booked under Section 376D of Indian Penal Code (intercourse by any member of the management or staff).
The two accused were the ones who locked the victim inside the room and raped her. Since the room was locked, the child’s cries in desperation and pain went unheard and the girl’s shadow teacher was not present on that day. He claimed that the accused have confessed to the crime.
Relevant sections under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) have been also invoked against them, he said.
The commissioner said investigations have ruled out the direct involvement of Mustafa, who was held by police as a suspect based on “circumstantial evidence available at that point of time.” Initially, police had announced that Mustafa was the main accused. Reddi said that with the arrest of Giri and Pasha, Bangalore Police have solved the case that had evoked public outrage and led to severe protests.
Reddi was at pains to explain how the police spun a story around Mustafa, the skating instructor from Bihar. He said Mustafa might be booked for carrying obscene pictures of children in his mobile set and in the alleged rape case that was reported from another private school in Whitefield couple of years back.
This is the fourth arrest in the case after those of school skating instructor Mustafa and its Founder-Chairman Rustom Kerawalla.
The alleged incident had occurred on July 2, but the complaint with police was lodged by the victim”s parents on July 14. The rape incident led to widespread protests in the city forcing the government to bring sexual offences under the ambit of the tough Goonda Act.
The school reopened on Monday after a gap of ten days.
