Dalit girl raped in school in Madhya Pradesh's Chhapiheda; main accused, two teachers held

Rajgarh: A 16-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by a man at a private school in a village in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Tuesday. The main accused, Azim Khan (21), and two school teachers, who allegedly helped Khan in committing the offence, were arrested after the incident that took place on Sunday, Chhapiheda police station in-charge Sangita Solanki said. The Class 9 student in her statement to the police said the accused lured her while she was standing at a bus stand in Sandawata village and then took her to the school, located nearby, where she was a student, Solanki said. The two other accused, Ritik Kushwaha (21) and Shyam Prajapati (22), both working as teachers at the same school, then locked the girl and Khan in a room on the campus where the latter allegedly raped her, the official said. The girl later went home and informed about the incident to her family members, who registered a complaint at the Chhapiheda police station on Monday. The three accused were subsequently arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Section 376 (rape), and also relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Solanki said. The school’s director, Abbas Khan, in an application to the police claimed he was out of the village on Sunday due to his father’s illness, she said. The director also told the police that Kushwaha was in possession of keys of the school building, the police official added.