Victim may have been abused before by attendant: Police
Mustafa Shaikh and Vikrant Dadawala
The nursery student had complained of some pain in her private parts in June.
The bus attendant accused of sexually assaulting a three-year-old nursery student may have abused her on more than one occasion, the police said on Thursday, a day after they arrested the man.
After returning from school on Tuesday afternoon, she once again complained of pain in her genitals and said that she didn’t want to go to school anymore.
This prompted the worried parents to consult a doctor, and an examination at a private clinic revealed swelling consistent with possible abuse.
When the three-year-old was counselled to reveal more, she spoke of the sexual assault at the hands of “blue uncle”, referring to the uniform of bus attendant Prakash Narayan Joshi, 47.
Joshi was picked up from his Tardeo residence late on Tuesday night and formally arrested in the early hours of Wednesday. He has denied sexually abusing the girl.
Ateam of government doctors at JJ Hospital, who examined the girl on Wednesday and Thursday, said that the swelling in the victim’s genitals indicated sexual assault. “Apart from the swelling, there were no other injuries. There may have been a sexual assault, but it’s difficult to determine medically how it happened,” a doctor said.
Joshi has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. He has also been booked for rape under the Indian Penal Code, and remanded in police custody till September 18.
The Gamdevi police said that currently they do not plan to bring the victim face-toface with the accused. An officer said that they would show Joshi’s pictures on a mobile phone to the girl for identification.
Joshi is not an employee of the SoBo school, but of Spencer Travels, the firm contracted by the school to operate student buses. Spencer Travels’ owner, Percy Spencer, had said on Wednesday that Joshi had been his employee for 30 years and there had never been a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against him before.
On Thursday, he said that the company was now planning to install CCTV cameras in its buses, especially those used to ferry school children.
“We will conduct a trial this Saturday. We will increase the number of female marshals on school buses. Instead of male attendants, the women marshals will assist students to board or get off the bus,” Spencer said.
Following a series of complaints about sexual abuse of schoolchildren on buses, the Mumbai police had directed schools and operators to install CCTV cameras in their vehicles. But many have not complied with the order because of costs and technical issues.
Anil Garg, president of School Bus Owners’ Association, said that buses of only 11 schools had installed cameras in the past one year.
On Thursday, a team of the Gamdevi police visited the SoBo school to review safety arrangements and to take statements of the principal and teacher concerned.
While many elite schools have hired female marshals to accompany the driver, the school concerned has not done so.
The nursery student had complained of some pain in her private parts in June.
The bus attendant accused of sexually assaulting a three-year-old nursery student may have abused her on more than one occasion, the police said on Thursday, a day after they arrested the man.
The girl, enrolled in a reputed south Mumbai school, had first complained to her parents about some pain in her private parts in June. But she was not taken to a hospital as she insisted that there was only minor discomfort, the girl’s mother has told the Gamdevi police.
After returning from school on Tuesday afternoon, she once again complained of pain in her genitals and said that she didn’t want to go to school anymore.
This prompted the worried parents to consult a doctor, and an examination at a private clinic revealed swelling consistent with possible abuse.
When the three-year-old was counselled to reveal more, she spoke of the sexual assault at the hands of “blue uncle”, referring to the uniform of bus attendant Prakash Narayan Joshi, 47.
Joshi was picked up from his Tardeo residence late on Tuesday night and formally arrested in the early hours of Wednesday. He has denied sexually abusing the girl.
Ateam of government doctors at JJ Hospital, who examined the girl on Wednesday and Thursday, said that the swelling in the victim’s genitals indicated sexual assault. “Apart from the swelling, there were no other injuries. There may have been a sexual assault, but it’s difficult to determine medically how it happened,” a doctor said.
Joshi has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. He has also been booked for rape under the Indian Penal Code, and remanded in police custody till September 18.
The Gamdevi police said that currently they do not plan to bring the victim face-toface with the accused. An officer said that they would show Joshi’s pictures on a mobile phone to the girl for identification.
Joshi is not an employee of the SoBo school, but of Spencer Travels, the firm contracted by the school to operate student buses. Spencer Travels’ owner, Percy Spencer, had said on Wednesday that Joshi had been his employee for 30 years and there had never been a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against him before.
On Thursday, he said that the company was now planning to install CCTV cameras in its buses, especially those used to ferry school children.
“We will conduct a trial this Saturday. We will increase the number of female marshals on school buses. Instead of male attendants, the women marshals will assist students to board or get off the bus,” Spencer said.
Following a series of complaints about sexual abuse of schoolchildren on buses, the Mumbai police had directed schools and operators to install CCTV cameras in their vehicles. But many have not complied with the order because of costs and technical issues.
Anil Garg, president of School Bus Owners’ Association, said that buses of only 11 schools had installed cameras in the past one year.
On Thursday, a team of the Gamdevi police visited the SoBo school to review safety arrangements and to take statements of the principal and teacher concerned.
While many elite schools have hired female marshals to accompany the driver, the school concerned has not done so.
