Child's sexual assault: Six days police custody for accused

An office assistant, who was arrested for the sexual assault of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl at a city school, was today remanded in six days police custody by a magisterial court.

42-year-old Gundappa, an office assistant in the Orchids International School, was arrested yesterday. He was produced before magistrate Shubha Goudar, who sent the accused in six days police custody, Joint Police Commissioner Hemant Nimbalkar said here.

The Central Crime Branch cell of Bangalore Police sought the custodial interrogation of Gundappa for six days, saying he was required to be questioned on a gamut of issues, he said.

Gundappa has been booked under Section 376 IPC (relating to rape) and Sections 4 and 6 of POCSO Act. Sections 4 and 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 relate to punishment for penetrative sexual assault and for aggravated penetrative sexual assault, respectively.

Police registered a criminal case against him invoking POSCO Act and IPC on a complaint by the child's father.

The girl, a nursery student, was crying when her mother picked her up from school on October 22 and she was not behaving normally and had symptoms of fever.

While she initially told her mother that someone beat her up, she later said she was sexually assaulted, according to the parents.

The breakthrough came after a functionary of the trust running the school was arrested on charges of violation of norms.

General Secretary of the trust K R K Reddy was arrested in connection with the cases under various IPC sections including 420 (cheating) besides RTE Act filed on October 23 night against the school after it was found allegedly functioning illegally, flouting the rules and law and cheating the public.