Parents oppose anticipatory bail granted to Mumbai school trustee accused of molesting student

Parents of a student from an Andheri school, whose trustee was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting the three-year-old, have now approached the Bombay high court against the anticipatory bail granted to the accused.

The trial began in Dindoshi court on Friday. While the child no longer studies in the same school, the lawyer representing her parents filed the application last week in the HC. Other parents have also intervened in the application too.

“We sought help of police to cancel his bail in order to make sure the trustee is not roaming freely within school premises, while the matter is still in court. Since there was no response, we had no choice, but to approach the high court,” said a parent.

This move comes, almost a month after parents had written to the zonal deputy commissioner of police seeking a revision of the trustee’s bail order.

Six months after the parents of the child had reported the incident and filed an FIR, the trustee was arrested in November 2017. However, since December 2017, the trustee has been out on bail and has returned to work at the school.

“How do we not worry about the safety of our children while the accused is in school the whole day?” asked one of the parents.

He said the bail rejection application was heard by the HC last week and the next hearing is slated for later this month.

In February, after receiving criticism from parents for returning to the school, the trustee had also shared his views in an email, with a parent.

Comparing himself to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela who were falsely jailed, he requested parents to stop treating him like a threat just because he had gone to jail.

HT tried contacting the school management on Friday evening, but there was no response.