PUNE: The Wanowrie police on Tuesday arrested a school bus attendant for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl student at his house in Hadapsar. The incident took place in October 2013. The police have also arrested the bus driver for abetting the attendant in committing the crime.
The incident took place when the girl was on her way back from school. “However, the incident came to light after six months when the girl disclosed it to her parents,” said B N Kale, senior inspector of Wanowrie police station.
The suspects – bus attendant Khalid Mohammed Pathan (29) and the driver Kamaruddin Gayasuddin (52), both residents of Sayyadnagar in Hadapsar – have been charged under sections 376 (rape) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 4 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Kale said the girl is a class IV student of a private English medium school. She used to travel by Pathan’s bus to the school. “As per the girl’s complaint in October last year, the duo did not drop her at her residence. They drove the bus to Pathan’s house in Sayyadnagar,” Kale said.
He said Pathan took the girl inside his house and allegedly raped her. The driver had locked the door from outside. “After the incident, the duo dropped the girl at her residence,” Kale said.
He said the girl was so frightened that she could not tell her parents about the sexual assault. “After some days, the girl revealed the matter to her parents. However, her parents did not approach the police immediately,” Kale said.
The senior inspector said her parents came to the police station on Wednesday and lodged the complaint against the suspects. “We immediately arrested the duo,” Kale said.
He said the girl was sent to a city-based hospital for medical examination. “We are expecting the report in the next two days,” Kale said.
This is the second case of involvement of a school bus attendant in the rape of a minor schoolgirl in the recent past. On April 7, the Deccan Gymkhana police had arrested bus attendant Amol Sherkar (22) and driver Vinayak Karande (30) of a private school bus for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl student inside the bus. The police investigations have revealed that the attendant had also sexually harassed the girl inside the bus, when it was parked on the school premises. Both the suspects were sent to Yerawada jail recently after their police custody remand ended.