6-Year-Old Allegedly Raped By Two School Staffers In India

A 6-year-old allegedly raped by two school staff members in the south India city of Bangalore has residents furious.

In a report from Reuters, angry parents marched to the school on Thursday and broke a glass door to protest the incident.

The alleged offense actually happened on July 2 on the school campus and was said to have occurred during class hours. The child, a student at the school, is receiving treatment, an official said.

According to Bangalore Deputy Commissioner of Police T D Pawar, the investigation is underway.

“The offense has taken place on 2nd of this month and case was registered on 14th. So, we have taken up the case and we are investigating the matter, taking all the aspects into consideration,” Pawar said.

When a 6-year-old is raped, you expect swift action, but that’s not what parents say they’ve been getting. Instead parents are accusing the school of inaction.

“We have been here since yesterday morning and they are not addressing our concerns properly,” said one mother at the protest.

Rustom Kerawalla, the school’s owner, said he was doing everything he could to help with the investigation.

“All cooperation is being given to the police authorities and guilty will have to be punished and all our cooperation is there towards that in spite of today being a holiday we assured that the staff are here to assist the enquiry,” he said.

The 6-year-old allegedly raped follows on the heels of unprecedented protests nationwide against the sexual assault of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital Delhi in December 2012. That incident forced then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government to pass tougher laws to fight gender crimes.

Al Jazeera notes that sex crimes “are common in India, which has a population of 1.2 billion,” adding, “New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among major cities, with a rape reported every 18 hours, according to police figures.”

Unfortunately, the problem is common and widespread. In fact, here in the United States a 10-year-old was recently raped in Oklahoma by two of her classmates during school hours.

Do you think schools are safe enough for our children, and when things like a 6-year-old being raped on school campus happen — whether the perpetrators are staff, student, or outsider — that school staff should be held criminally liable?

Share your thoughts with us in our comments section below.

[Image via gary yim / Shutterstock.com]