The world may not be such a happy place, but until a few years ago, schools were considered to be safe havens for students. It was a place where they not just learnt their lessons and about life in general, they made friends and enjoyed their time under the watchful eyes of the teachers. However, things aren't the same anymore and schools are fast becoming a place where students sometimes go through very tough and traumatising times.
In a shocking incident, the father of a student of Mayo College, Ajmer, has alleged that his son was sexually assaulted and sodomised by six of his seniors. The class 11 student was reportedly abused multiple times by six class 12 boarders between July 10 and 26.
The family of the boy filed a complaint against the students at the Alwar Gate police station on Tuesday, July 31.
Speaking of the complaint, Priti Chaudhary, deputy superintendent of police, who is investigating the case, told Hindustan Times: "We have registered a case on the father's complaint under different sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) Act against six named students of Mayo College and are investigating. It is very early to say anything on this."
In the complaint, in which the school's management committee is a co-complainant, the father of the student said that the class 12 boys barged into his son's room on July 10 and forced him to consume alcohol and take drugs. They then took the boy to the washroom and took turns to sodomise him.
"Each time they sexually abused my son, they forced him to take drugs. They threatened him of dire consequences if he reported the incident to anyone," he added.
The boy's ordeal continued until July 26, when he finally left the school and told his parents about the abuse. "He is under great distress and is deeply disturbed. This was his first year in the boarding school," the father added.
Even though Mayo College's management committee is a co-complainant, the school has refused to comment on the case. "The police is investigating the matter, let's wait for the findings; I have nothing more to say at this juncture," Mayo college's principal and director Surendra Kulkarni told HT.
Just weeks ago, a class nine student of a private school in Bihar's Saran district alleged that she was raped by about 18 people in her school over the last eight months. The 18 people include the school's principal, two of the teachers and 15 other students.
The girl explained that she remained quiet for all these months fearing social stigma, but approached the police later and filed a complaint alleging that she was raped since December 2017. She explained that three of her schoolmates had raped in the school toilet in December and shot a video of the act. They then warned her against telling anyone and said that they would make the video public.
Even though she did not discuss the incident with anyone, the students circulated the video that even reached the teachers. However, instead of taking action, they too are said to have blackmailed and raped her.
The class nine girl then approached her principal hoping for some action. However, she was asked not to speak of it as it would bring her and the school bad name. If that wasn't enough, the principal of the school too is said to have called her to his office and raped her
