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Telangana govt orders derecognition of Hyderabad school after 4-year-old's rape

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 21 Oct 2022, 10:01 am

Hyderabad/IBNS: The government recognition granted to a private school in Hyderabad, where a 4-year-old was allegedly raped for two months, has been cancelled, Telangana's Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy has ordered.

The students of the institution would be accommodated in other schools.

The minister has also ordered that a committee headed by Telangana's Education Secretary should submit a report to the government on what security measures can be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

The committee will have as its members the Director of School Education, the Secretary of the Women and Child Welfare Department and a senior officer dealing with the protection of children against sexual offences.

The report is to be submitted within a week.

The school in Banjara Hills area was shut down after the incident became public.

The driver of the school principal, who was accused of raping and sexually assaulting the child for over two months, was arrested on Wednesday.

Later, the principal of the school, who was reported to have laughed off the complaint about abuse and did not act on it at first, was also arrested, following protests by parents.

The parents of the child had noticed behavioural changes in her and when the mother enquired, she realised that something was terribly wrong.

The child had reportedly pointed to the driver who had access to the children inside the school.

The angry parents assaulted the driver and sat on a dharna in front of the Banjara Hills police station, after which an FIR was registered.

An investigation found that CCTVs in the school were not working, and also that the driver had often taken on the role of a teacher for the pre-primary section.

While the minister has intended to send a strong message to school managements about the importance of child safety, the order to close the school and shift the children has caused a lot of concern among parents and government officials too.

The school has over 700 students studying and accommodating them in other schools in the middle of the academic year is going to be a big challenge.