Mangaluru, Mar 15: The mother of the nursery student, who was sexually abused by a school van driver near Thokkottu on the outskirts of the city on Friday, has demanded immediate justice and prompt legal action against the accused and authorities of Mangalore One School, who downplayed the incident.
Speaking at a press conference held by Samyuktha Muslim Jamath, Dakshina Kannada and like-minded organisations, here on Sunday, Sameera (name changed), mother of the victim, said that after the incident of sexual abuse of her daughter came to light, the school authorities, when approached, refused to take the incident into consideration and tried to cover up the entire matter.
“They turned down our request to lodge a complaint against the school van driver on the grounds that police involvement will spoil the image of the school,” she said, alleging that the reputation of the school was more important to the school management than the plight of her daughter.
She said that the school management rubbished the allegations of rape on the girl and said that the injuries on the girl had been caused when she hurt herself from the chair in the classroom. She also told media persons that the family had not been contacted by any member of the school committee, management or staff to enquire about the condition of the girl.
With tears in her eyes, Sameera said that her daughter was usually dropped off home from school by 1 p.m. and on the day of the alleged assault, she came home late.
“She was preoccupied and seemed distant, refusing to eat much. I instantly knew something was wrong, and when I noticed her bleeding in the evening, she told me that the van driver had done something bad to her. She revealed that the van driver had forced himself on her after parking the van somewhere on the side of the road,” she said, alleging that the driver of the school van had been drunk during the entire day. She appealed for swift justice for her daughter.
President of Samyuktha Muslim Jamath and former Mayor K Ashraf said that the parents of the girl had approached him and lamented that no political leader or authorities from the education department had offered them support. Neither did the school authorities take the matter seriously and offer them help. Instead, they tried to cover the entire episode to avoid tarnishing their image, he said, strongly condemning the refusal of the school management to consider the matter seriously.
He said that in light of the increasing sexual crimes on children in schools, it was the responsibility of the schools to implement proper safety measures and provide adequate security to students. “The school van had tinted windows and screens. The driver of the van was also drunk while dropping off students to their respective homes on the day of the incident,” he alleged.
Akhila Bharata Beary Parishad vice-president Hameed Kudroli, president of Madoor Juma Masjid Aziz Madoor and father of the girl were present, among others.
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