A two-year-old boy was allegedly sexually assaulted at a playschool in south Kolkata’s Behala area earlier this week. The alleged incident occurred on Monday and the matter came to light on Thursday, a day after the parents lodged a police complaint at Thakurpukur Police station.
The FIR, registered under Sections 4 & 6 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, mentions that when the child went to the playschool located on Diamond Harbour Road in Sakher Bazar area on the morning of July 2, he was subjected to “aggravated penetrative sexual assault by unknown persons of the school."
School denies plea to provide CCTV footage
In the complaint to the police, the father of the child said that the Principal of the playschool denied their request to provide the CCTV footage of the particular day. The father said the school authorities had told him that they did not have CCTV footage between June 26 and July 3.
“When my son came out of the playschool he was crying. He was not able to stand or sit. The doctor suggested that we visit the school and check the CCTV footage,” the father said. The parents took the child to a state-run health facility where a medical examination was done.
Representatives of the playschool said that they had organised “a doctor's day event in the school on Monday” when a doctor medically examined the children.
“This child, however, was not checked by the doctor. He was with the teachers and nanny in another room, and at 11.30 a.m., the parents came and picked the child up. They came 24 hours later making these allegations,” the playschool representative told journalists.
Last year incident
In December 2017, an allegation of sexual assault on a kindergarten student at a south Kolkata school triggered massive protests by parents. The school had to be closed for weeks before arrests were made and the principal of the school was removed from office.