Principal arrested in sexual assault case

PUNE: The Airport police on Tuesday arrested principal of an English-medium school in Lohegaon for allegedly pressurizing parents of a 13-year-old girl student, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by the vice-principal of the school, against filing a police complaint.
Police had last month arrested the vice-principal of the school after the mother of a standard VII girl student had lodged the complaint against him.The suspect had been allegedly sexually assaulting the girl for around a year. He has been charged under section 8 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
When the girl informed her parents about the assault, her parents were not keen on registering the complaint. However, the Airport police after getting to know about the incident played a proactive role and persuaded the parents to file the complaint.
Deputy commissioner of police (zone-IV) Manoj Patil said the investigations have revealed that the principal of the school was aware of the assault. "He, however, did not inform police about it and also tried to suppress the case," Patil said, adding that the principal had also prepared a fake letter in the name of the girl's parents rubbishing her claims.
The principal has been charged under sections 195 (giving or fabricating false evidence) and 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform) of the Indian Penal Code and the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.