/ Mumbai
A 14-year-old girl, studying in Std IX, was allegedly molested and raped by her school principal twice, officers of the Nagpada police station said on Monday.
Based on the student’s statement to the police, the first incident happened last December. “In her statement, the girl said the principal was threatening her about her affair with a boy in school and said he [the principal] would reveal everything to her parents. On this pretext, he called her into his office cabin – where the crime happened,” a police officer said.
The second incident allegedly took place on Saturday after which the girl began exhibiting strange behaviour that caught her parents’ attention. The girl’s mother was the one who first suspected something was wrong. After a series of interactions with her daughter, the student finally opened up and narrated the horrific ordeal, after which the family approached the police the same day.
The school where the incident happened is a secondary school for students from Std V to X and is run by an education trust, the police said. An investigation into the school’s safety parameters is on.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the principal, aged 50, who is currently missing. Police sources said he may have got to know of the FIR and absconded. Police have formed special teams to trace him.
Just a few weeks ago, on Jan 8, police at Nagpada detained a 15-year-old boy for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl in a civic school compound. After this, The Free Press Journal had reported how officers from the Nagpada police station were meeting school authorities in their jurisdiction to improve protection for children inside and around schools.
