A demonstration demanding police action into an alleged sexual assault case involving a five-year-old girl at a private school in Tiruppur on Friday evening snowballed into a larger agitation that lasted for over four hours. The hundreds of protesters dispersed past midnight after the visit of Tiruppur City Commissioner of Police V. Vanitha.
Speaking to the mediapersons, she said that a woman lodged a complaint at the All Women Police Station – Tiruppur North on Friday that a man had allegedly touched her daughter studying L.K.G in an inappropriate manner on the school premises. A case was registered and the process of reviewing CCTV footage from the school to ascertain the identity of the accused began.
“There was a gap in communication of information between the police and the public,” Ms. Vanitha said, because of which the protesters had gathered in large numbers alleging lack of action.
She said that she had assured the protesters regarding the formation of a committee by the Tiruppur City Police and district administration to create awareness among school-going children regarding sexual offences , following which they dispersed.
According to the police, a small group of people staged a demonstration outside the school on Friday afternoon, after which nearly 500 protesters from various organisations gathered on Perumanallur Road near Pooluvapatti at around 8 p.m.
Revenue Divisional Officer (Tiruppur) M. Jaganathan also visited the spot and held talks with them. Meanwhile, the protesters allegedly damaged the windows of an ambulance and a government bus, but none were hurt, the police said. Around 200 police personnel were deployed at the spot and the agitation ended past midnight.
The girl did not have any external injuries as per the medical examination done after registering the case, the police claimed. The incident is said to have occurred on December 14 in the school and the footage from around eight CCTV cameras in the school were being analysed. The case was registered under sections 7 (Sexual assault) and 8 (Punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Ms. Vanitha told The Hindu on Saturday that an inquiry will be held in the school to gather evidence and the accused’s identity will be confirmed with the girl’s assistance. “The investigation will be scientific and child-friendly,” she said.