Student molested by school peon, others

MUMBAI: An eight-year-old student of Chembur’s Swami Vivekanand School, Chembur,was sexually abused several times between June and August by the school peon and other men from a nearby slum. The incidents occurred during school hours in a hut outside the campus, the victim’s parents said in a police complaint.
The third standard student, one of five children of a middle class family, is currently undergoing therapy at the Child Guidance Clinic at J.J.Hospital, Byculla. Medical reports have confirmed that “a 10 cm X 2 cm metal rod was inserted’’ in the victim’s genitals.
According to the girl’s psychotherapist, Bina Sawant, this is the second time the girl has been sexually abused. Last year, the school’s bus driver was arrested and convicted for sexually abusing the girl.
After last year’s incident, the girl’s parents decided to personally drop off and pick up their daughter from school. According to the girl’s statement, the peon used to prevent her from going to class and instead took her to a hut near the school.
“On one occasion, the girl has been marked absent for ten consecutive days even after her father personally dropped her to school,’’ Ms Sawant said. The girl has identified the peon as one Gulab.
“Since the medical report has ruled out any sexual intercourse, we have written to the investigating officer at Chembur Naka police station suggesting that the culprits could have used the girl for a blue film,’’Ms Sawant added.
However, the school authorities have responded by asking the child to leave the school. “We find it hard to believe that two such incidents have happened with the same girl,’’ C.U. Vaswani executive secretary of the school told TNN on Wednesday. “I have asked the parents to shift her to an allgirls school.’’
Last year, prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had visited the 40-yearold institution, which caters to the middle and upper middle class.