Ranchi: A mother admitted her 3-year-old son to Little Angles, a play school in Ranchi, Jharkhand. She was quite relaxed about her child’s safety as the school claimed that it was their foremost concern. Things were fine post admission. However, ever since she subscribed to the school van services, her son got targeted by the driver, who did sexual abuse with the child for 10 days.
Significantly, a maid, used to travel in the van as a chaperon, but she never objected or raised an alarm when the child was being abused.
Ironically, when the parents approached the school Principal, her reaction was shocking. She exclaimed, “Why would the driver leave the ‘aaya’ and molest a child? That is unnatural.”
Speaking to eNewsroom, the mother of the child informed, “I started sending my son to the school, situated 2 kilometers way from my residence from March 25, 2018. The driver and an ‘aaya’ (maid) used to travel with kids. They are school employees.”
When the child began complaining of being unwell, the mother inquired about his health. But the child didn’t speak up.
“On April 5, he came with injuries in his body. He was unwell too, so we took him to doctor who revealed to us that the child has been sexually abused,” narrated the child’s mother. Her voice almost broke while sharing the details.
The child was traumatised and it was only after a few days that he was able to narrate the details of the abuse. The driver used to take the boy to a desolate place and undress him. All the boy was able to recollect that it was a filthy place, where he could hear the dogs bark. The ‘aaya’ used to go away when the driver molested the child and would come back only when the driver was done with his misdeed.
She sadly added, that her child doesn’t even know that he has been sexually abused.
“Next day, we contacted the school administration, but were shocked by Principal Sandhya Bagla’s reply.”
The school authorities were more concerned about brushing aside the issue.
For 15 days, parents have been requesting the school authorities to take action against the driver and maid, but school is yet to take any action.
“Finally on April 21, we met Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ranchi, Kuldeep Diwedi, who asked us to register an FIR , so that he could take action,” said the mother.
After the registration of FIR at Kotwali Police Station (no 19/18), driver was arrested by Ranchi the police. And a medical examination has been done by a board on April 23.
The mother added, “I want justice for my child. I want to fight. Though I have registered a police complaint, I have come to know that the principal is trying to ‘manage’ the officers as well as the medical reports. The Doctors had affirmed it then that the child has been sexually assaulted. The bruises were there. But I fear that, as time passes by, they would erase all the evidences. They might influence the doctors. For them, the prestige of their school is more important than the psychological scars that my child has suffered.”
When contacted, Sandhya Bagla, the principal, she said, “No such incident has taken place in our school.” She then reiterated the same logic, “Driver is 52 year old and maid is 27, so why leaving her, he will molest the child?”
However, mother claimed that driver was not older than 35 years. The driver Kunwar Kespotta has been arrested by Ranchi police.
The principal also claimed that they have a GPS system in the van, and there was no record of the van deviating from its routined path.
Mother again claimed that principal giving wrong information, as GPS had been installed in the van, only after April 5, which was after they had complained to the school authority regarding the child’s molestation.
SSP, Ranchi being on leave, in-charge Sanjay Singh told eNewsroom, “”I have no idea about the case, but if an FIR has been registered, there will be no manipulation either in the FIR or in the medical report,” he claimed.
