Sexual assault: no evidence yet against school guard

The city police are yet to gather evidence against a security guard who was booked on the charge of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl at a private school in T Dasarahalli on Tuesday.

The school has CCTV cameras installed at most of the places. The footage does not show any of the five guards accessing students’ area, the police said on Wednesday. The police are not able to gather more information as the child is down with fever. “We are waiting for the child to recover. We will gather more details from her after counselling,” said Chetan Singh Rathore, DCP (North).

According to child’s father, his daughter returned home from school around 1.40 pm complaining of fever and vomiting. Her mother found that the child was uncomfortable. When questioned, the girl told her that a “security uncle” touched her pants inappropriately. The shocked mother informed her husband and both rushed the child to a private hospital from where she was taken to MS Ramaiah Hospital. After the mother told the doctor about the child’s claims, the doctor conducted an examination and asked the mother to inform the police.

The Bagalgunte police rushed to the hospital and spoke to the child and her mother. Based on the victim’s statement, the police collected photographs of five security guards and the child identified one of them. He was picked up for questioning on Tuesday night. Despite sustained interrogation, he maintained that he did not move from the spot where he was deployed. The police found truth in his version as the CCTV footage did not show any guard entering the students’ area. However, a case was registered under Pocso Act.

“The guard in question is still in our custody. We need further statements from the victim to probe him further,” said a senior police officer.

The girl’s father told DH: “The incident may or may not have happened. But, I want to make it sure from the medical reports which will be ready in two or three days.”

Police sources hinted the guard could have been wrongly accused as the child and her mother had some “communication gap.”

The child’s mother told the police on Wednesday that her daughter was disturbed by the rape of a child in Delhi, and that she had recently apprised her daughter of ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch.’

However, the police have kept the case open and will obtain further statements from the victim to ascertain her claims, a senior police officer said.

DH News Service