Mumbai: The Santacruz police have arrested a 39-year-old peon working at a western suburban school for allegedly repeatedly raping an eight-year-old student for the past three months. He even threatened the minor that if she revealed her ordeal, he would harm her as well as her parents.
The abhorrent act of the accused finally came to the fore during the girl's medical examination. The peon's identity, a resident of Lower Parel, has been withheld.
According to police, the victim's parents took her to a doctor when she experienced difficulty in walking, leading to the discovery of the sexual assault. Subsequently, medical tests were conducted at Bhabha Hospital.
For over three months, the accused reportedly confined the girl to a storeroom located beneath the ground floor staircase of the school, where he subjected her to physical and sexual abuse, including acts of unnatural sexual assault. The shocking incident came to light on March 28 and the peon was arrested two days later.
He has been booked under sections 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), 10 (aggravated sexual assault) and 12 (commits sexual harassment upon a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act as well as the Indian Penal Code provisions 376 (committing rape repeatedly on the same woman), 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The police are now investigating whether assaulted other students, including boys.
