Teacher arrested for child abuse

NEW DELHI: A trainee teacher in south Delhi''s Mirambika School was arrested on Wednesday on charges of repeatedly sexually abusing a four-year-old boy in the school premises.
The arrest followed a first information report lodged by the parents at the Malviya Nagar police station after the school did not address their complaint.
"The teacher, Manish Kumar (23), has been arrested and charged with unnatural sexual behaviour, a non-bailable offence which can attract a life term," a senior police officer said.
Indu, an official of the Sri Aurobindo Society which runs the school, termed the charge as "unbelievable". "No one in the staff believes the incident. We are shocked. The child''s parents met us only today (Wednesday) and we had asked for time to speak to the chairman. Now, since an FIR has already been lodged, we are also waiting for the truth," she said.
The child''s parents said their son had complained of pain in the navel and genitals last week. Initially, they disregarded it as he is an active boy. "When he started reacting violently when I gave him a bath last Friday, pushing me off when I hugged him, I began having doubts," his mother said.
She said they coaxed their son to talk. On Monday, the boy''s mother accompanied her son to the school, where, according to her FIR, the child pointed out the teacher to her.
"We met the principal, who refused to even acknowledge the complaint. When we attempted to meet her again, she refused. On Wednesday, we made a representation to the school management and were supported by parents of other students of our son''s group. But the management did not specify that they would take concrete action," the parents said.
When asked why the management had not been apprised of the incident immediately by the principal, who was approached by the parents on Monday itself, Indu said: "Because the principal doesn''t believe it."
"I am a trained social worker and have worked with children. My husband, too, works with a children''s organisation. We have the advantage of knowing how to deal with our son. But ever since the incident came to light, other parents want to know how to establish if their children have been similarly abused," his mother said.
Psychiatrist Dr Samir Parikh says it is important to ensure that an abused child is not made to repeatedly relive the experience.
"The child may have internally resolved it. It must be ensured that the child is counselled by only the parents and the psychiatrist and nobody else," he said.