A day after a case of Class-3 student’s alleged sexual assault by one of his seniors in the toilet of the school in east Delhi’s Vihar was registered by the police, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said the school authorities were uncooperative to the team deployed to probe the matter. He also said the minor victim should be compensated for the trauma due to lack of counselling and care given by the staff members.
Taking a strong view of the incident, Kanoongo said the school refused to cooperate with the NCPCR and failed to provide counselling. “We sent a team to school, but were not given access and had to call the police. We wanted to speak with the counsellor and district child protection officer. Most important process of counselling was never done. DCPO did not show up, DC did not come,” the NCPCR Chief told ANI.
He also said that according to the victim’s family, the school tried to dismiss the matter and the staff members were not sensitised or trained regarding the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. “The victim’s family says school tried to dismiss the matter, did not report it to the police. School teachers are not sensitised, are untrained, not aware of POCSO,” he said.
He further said the victim child who is in trauma and unable to study for the past 8 days should be compensated.
According to police, the incident took place on August 29 but was reported the next day. An inquiry found the eight-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by a 14-year-old Class-10 student in the toilet during the school hours. A case under the relevant provisions of law was registered and the juvenile was apprehended and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, police told PTI.
The POCSO Act (2012) protects children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography while ensuring the right to privacy through all stages of the judicial process and in the best interest and well-being of the child through trials in Special Courts.
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Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) Section 44 (1) of the special children’s law provides that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) along with the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Act.
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