Bangalore: Police arrest chairman of school, where 6-year-old was raped

The Bangalore police have arrested the chairman of the school where a six-year-old was raped earlier this month, allegedly by a skating instructor, according to news reports. Rustam Kherawalla, the chairman of the Vibgyor school who lives outside Bangalore was arrested this morning.

Police have invoked section 201 of IPC (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) against Kerawalla, he said.

This is the second arrest after that of Mustafa, skating instructor as the main accused, on Sunday.

The report adds that “Kherawalla faced protests by angry parents who last week tore down the school gate and stormed his office, accusing the school of failing to protect their children.”

The delay in nabbing the culprits and taking action against the school management had evoked widespread criticism, leading to protests in the city and elsewhere in the last one week.

The arrest comes on the heels of criticism that has been leveled by the parents against the school authorities. Parents allege that the school tried to hush up the incident, which took place on 2 July. A delegation of parents met the newly appointed Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi on Tuesday. The school has remained closed since 17 July.

The police chief has advised the school management to resolve the safety issues raised by parents. “I visited the crime scene in the school. I was guided by my team. I also had a detailed conversation with the parents and the management. We have advised the managment to resolve the safety issues quickly,” Reddi told CNN-IBN .

Reddi also said that the school may reopen on Monday. “In the interest of children who are missing school, the school has to reopen,” Reddi said.

Bangalore has been rocked by protests ever since the story of the six-year-old’s rape inside the school premises broke. The Bangalore Police on Sunday arrested the school’s skating instructor and is now on the lookout for a second accused. Police said that a laptop seized from the accused also contained child pornography.

In addition, there have been reports that Mustafa was an alleged serial sex-offender, so parents are questioning the school’s laid-back attitude when appointing staff.

It seems no background check was done before hiring him as a skating instructor. Another NDTV report said that Mustafa had earlier been sacked by another school for “inappropriate behaviour”.

With the arrest of the chairman, it seems that the government and police are finally cracking down on the school management as well. The Karnataka government has written to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations Board to derecognise the school.

With inputs from PTI