Greater Noida molestation: ‘Accused in sexual assault of schoolboy helped in police verification of staffers’

The accused, Ashok Mishra, in police custody. (Express Photo)

The 35-year-old administrative assistant arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a Nigerian student at a school in Greater Noida was assisting the school staff in collating police verification data of 52 employees at the institute — in the wake of a student’s murder at Ryan International School’s Bhondsi branch — school authorities have told The Indian Express.

The accused, Ashok Mishra, however, never went through a police verification when he joined the school in 2011, authorities said, adding that he was also tasked with “filtering” people before they met the principal, by going through their credentials, to make sure that they posed no danger. Mishra is accused of sexually assaulting the 11-year-old boy for over three years — a fact that came to light after the boy confided in his parents.

“He (Mishra) was working at the school since 2011. I joined after that in December 2012 and from what I found, he had not gone through formal induction in the school and did not undergo police verification. But he was assisting the staff in collating police verification data after the Ryan school murder,” said the school principal. From workshops to mid-day meals, accused was ‘active & calm’

After the murder of a seven-year-old boy in Ryan International School, the District Magistrate (Greater Noida) had ordered all schools in the area to submit police verification of all employees. School authorities said the verification was taking part in three phases, starting with bus conductors and drivers, the non-teaching staff and then the teaching staff. A psychometric test of all teachers was also due.

Noida Police said the school staff had sent a list of 35 people for police verification and Ashok’s name was not on the list. The accused has no previous criminal record, police said. Ashok was arrested from his house in Greater Noida on Wednesday night. He lives with his wife and two sons, aged seven and eight. “The accused has been arrested and we have sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. The parents had said he is a shopkeeper, but we have been told that he works in the administration. The child was medically examined yesterday. We will also talk to other students with the help of child counsellors,” said SP (City) Suniti Singh.

“Ashok was arrested after a Class VI student alleged he had sexually harassed him for the past three years. The last alleged assault was in September inside the school washroom”, a Noida police officer said. There are 700 children at the school and school authorities have said they have nine maids, against the sanctioned strength of 11 who assist children visiting the washroom. However, due to the festive season, many maids had gone to their villages, school authorities said.

The school has installed 25 CCTV cameras and purchased five more — following recommendations of parents in a meeting on Wednesday morning. “The cameras have been installed facing the lobbies and washrooms,” the principal said. School authorities have denied that the administrative and bus staff had access to the students’ area.

“The students’ block can only be accessed through two gates. Anyone entering the building has to enter from the reception area, where their manual entry is recorded,” the principal said. However, it was found that the office of the accused, adjacent to the principal’s office, had access to the students’ area.