New Delhi, March 2, 2013- Barely months after the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedic brought a shocked city to a standstill, the Capital was shamed yet again when a sevenyear-old girl was allegedly raped inside her school premises in Mangolpuri. The incident took place on Thursday morning but came to light on Friday when the parents of the victim, a Class II student of Nigam Pratibha Vidyalaya, lodged a complaint at the Mangolpuri police station.
As news of the rape spread, a mob gathered on the streets and vented their ire by pelting stones. The agitation was fuelled further by rumours of the girl’s death. The crowd damaged three DTC buses and two PCR vans and police had to resort to lathicharge to bring the rampaging crowd under control.
The police said the alleged rape took place at the North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run school during the lunch break. “The victim told her parents that she was in her classroom when a person came and took her away. She claimed that the man tied her hands and put a cloth in her mouth and took her to the first floor of the school,” a police officer said.
Her parents only got to know of the incident at night as the girl was too traumatised to say anything. On Friday they took her to the school from where she was taken to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. The medical examination confirmed rape. Later, a case was registered against an unknown person.
The victim was shown five persons including a teacher, a watchman and two peons and was asked to identify the accused, but she could not as she was in trauma. The police have picked up three persons for questioning and have detained 14 people for rioting.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has decried the incident as inhuman and shameful. “It is a shocking incident. The municipal corporations must strengthen their existing security infrastructure in schools,” Dikshit said.
She also directed chief secretary D.M. Spolia to take up the matter with the concerned civic officials. Following the alleged sexual attack, North corporation officials reiterated their promise to provide more security to students and install CCTVs in schools. It has also emerged that none of the 1,639 schools under the three corporations has CCTV cameras.
INDIA TODAY
