95 Cases Of Sexual Assault On Kids Have Been Registered In Gurugram This Year So Far

On Wednesday evening, a nine-year-old girl was sexually molested by a school teacher. The incident took place inside the school premises after the school hours. The girl studied in the Government Primary School in Prem Nagar Kheri.

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She lives in the area, and in the evening the kids in the area play in the school's playground. On Wednesday, the girl went out to play at around 5:15pm. A school teacher, Ramchandra (51) called her inside a room and he took off his shirt.

Then he made the girl lay over him and put his tongue in his mouth. He also stroked her private parts for a few minutes. The girl returned home at 6:30pm and told her mother about the incident. The accused was nabbed and handed over to the police.

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In Gurugram, over 95 cases of Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) have already been registered this year till August end. Last year too, 128 such cases were registered in Gurugram. Some of the prominent ones made the child fall prey while being in the supervision of the school.

For instance molestation of the girl on Wednesday and Pradhyumn's death in Ryan International School, Bhondsi allegedly by the bus conductor who wanted to sodomise the deceased.

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In October 2016, a four-year-old girl was digitally raped inside a school bus by the bus driver. Shockingly, the abuse visibly took place in the presence of other preschoolers in the bus. This highlights how children are as vulnerable when within the school walls as they are when out alone and unsupervised.

In another laxity, a class 8 student had to change her school after she fell victim to a sexual prank. The school did nothing to help the child in distress, nor did it report the matter to the authorities. The 15-year-old studied a private school in sector 38.

In May, two of her male classmates tried to show her some obscene text about her in the school computer. However, she refused to read it. Within minutes, the text was circulated to all students in the school. Following this, other students stopped speaking with her and would often tease her. Shockingly, the school refused to help her or investigate the matter.

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Finally, in august she sought admission in another school. The victim's mother finally filed a police complaint and approached child welfare committee earlier this month. The matter is now under cyber investigation. However, this shows that schools have little apathy when it comes protecting the students from sexual offences.

"The schools flout basic safety norms by being stingy or indifferent to a child's safety rights. As a result, we have around a dozen cases of children being molested in the school in a year. Situation will only improve if strict actions are taken against the schools and other such establishments who are involved in the offence. We will book any such school in section 75 of Juvenile Justice under which they can be jailed for 7 to 10 years," said Shakuntala Dhull, chairperson, child welfare committee, Gurugram.