Pune: School van driver held of sexually assaulting two six year old girls

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Police have arrested a school van driver for allegedly sexually assaulting two six year old girl students in Maharashtra's Pune city, an official said to PTI on Thursday.

The incident took place on September 30 on the van when the schoolgirls were traveling back home from the city's Wanwadi area, he said.

"The accused allegedly touched the private parts of both the victims when they were returning home from the school. One of the girl students later narrated the incident to her mother, who then informed the school authorities," the official from the Wanwadi police station said to PTI.

An FIR was registered and the accused driver was identified as Sanjay Reddy was booked and arrested under sections 64 (punishment for rape) and 65 (2) (punishment for rape on woman under twelve years of age) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In August, a sweeper allegedly sexually assaulted two girls, aged four and five years, inside the toilet of a school in Thane's Badlapur region, sparking major protests. The accused, Akshay Shinde, was arrested and was then killed in an alleged shoot-out with police on September 23, PTI reported.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court refused pre-arrest bail to two school trustees - the chairman and the secretary - named as accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case.

"There is prima facie material indicating that the victims' parents had voiced their grievances to the class teacher and other staff members. The applicants were aware of the incident before August 16. Despite having knowledge, they did not report the incident to police," the HC said.

The delay in lodging a police complaint was primarily because of the applicants' negligence for reasons known only to them, the judge said.

According to PTI, the court scheduled the next hearing on October 23 and requested information on the actions taken against Badlapur police officials who failed to swiftly record a first information report (FIR) and adequately investigate the case.

The school's chairman and secretary have been booked under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for not reporting the incident to the police immediately and negligence.

Earlier, a division bench had criticised the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for its inability to arrest the two accused, PTI reported.

The HC noted that the SIT had only sent notices to the duo through WhatsApp and email and asked if they were waiting for the accused to obtain pre-arrest bail.

"The police go to any extent to nab an accused. How come they have not been able to apprehend these two? Are they waiting for them to get anticipatory bail?" the division bench asked.