Kolkata school staffer arrested after Class 9 student alleges sexual assault, second arrest in a week in city

Kolkata: A Class IX student of a Bengali medium girls school in the city was allegedly sexually abused by a non-teaching staff at the institute’s premises, police said on Saturday. The incident surfaced a day after a teacher of a prominent private English-medium school was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a Class II girl. The Class IX student and her parents lodged a complaint at the Rabindra Sarobar police station on Friday, alleging she was sexually abused by the school’s group-IV staff a day earlier, a senior Kolkata Police officer said. [caption id=“attachment_4345213” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Police said the accused was arrested today and produced before a court which remanded him to police custody till 12 February. “The accused was arrested on Saturday under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012. We are going by the victim’s version and are looking into the matter,” the investigating officer said. The alleged incident happened on Thursday afternoon when the school hosted its annual sports meet. The victim and three other girls were at the chemistry laboratory on the first floor of the school building where the accused, who also works as an assistant, was present, the officer said. “The accused had allegedly sexually abused the girl there. We are talking to three other girls who were present there and recording their versions also,” he added. Meanwhile, West Bengal commission for protection of child rights chairperson Ananya Chatterjee Chakraborti said, “We have to be very cautious these days. It’s good that people are reporting such incidents.” “We will talk to the girl and her family members as well as the school authorities and the police before stating anything in this regard.” Members of the Commission would visit the school on Monday, she added. A senior school official said they would look into the matter and cooperate with the police. “We will ensure that our students are absolutely safe here and for the same we have taken all sorts of measure,” she said.