Hyderabad: Demanding ‘Sajjanar-like justice’, the father of a four-year-old sexually abused by a driver, at DAV public school protested in front of the Banjara hills police station on Wednesday. He further said that if he had the support of other parents, he is ready to walk to the chief minister’s camp office until justice is served.
The girl’s father was referring to the Disha encounter case in 2019 where four suspects were ‘encountered’ by the police in self-defense. VC Sajjanar was the then Commissioner of Cyberabad Police when the encounter was carried out. Currently, he is the managing director of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).
“We will accept no deviations in the case. The Principal of the school also has to be held accountable. Until our demands are met, I will go on a hunger strike,” added the aggrieved parent.
A mere couple of hours after the protest, the victim’s lawyer informed that under Banjara Hills ACP M Sudarshan, DAV Principal has been placed in judicial remand.
Background of the case
In the present case, the four-year-old girl was allegedly sexually abused by the car driver of a school principal at Banjara Hills. The accused was arrested by the police on Tuesday and a case has been registered against him under sections 364, 376 (a)(b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the POCSO act.
The accused person, identified as Rajani Kumar, worked as a driver for the DAV school’s principal at Banjara Hills. Kumar was reportedly entering the digital classroom of the school frequently and is alleged to have misbehaved with the female students by inappropriately touching them.
The victim informed her parents after they persistently asked her why she was disturbed. When she told the parents about the sexual abuse in the school by Rajani Kumar, her parents and relatives rushed to DAV School.
They caught hold of the driver and reportedly beat him up using sticks. On getting to know about the incident, the Banjara Hills police reached the school and took the driver into custody. The cops have registered a case and are currently verifying the feed from surveillance cameras.
Several parents also turned up at the station demanding action from the cops on the same night. They also protested inside the police station premises. Slogans of “We want justice” were raised.
Kasam Bhaskar, a parent of a student at DAV school speaking to Siasat.com said, “The principal has to have known what was happening. There are allegations of other children suffering also. The management was silenced, she’s not taking responsibility either.”
Disha rape case
Four men were allegedly involved in the gang rape and murder of a 27-year-old female veterinary doctor. According to police, Disha (as the victim is referred to by the police) was kidnapped and sexually assaulted near Outer Ring Road (ORR) on the outskirts of Hyderabad on the night of November 27, 2019. After the sexual assault, the accused murdered her, took the body to Chatanpally, and set it afire.
The Supreme Court-appointed Commission of Inquiry into the “encounter” killing of four suspects arrested following the 2019 rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Telangana has recommended that the 10 police officers involved in the killing be “tried for the offences under Section 302 (murder)” because “the different acts committed by each of them were done in furtherance of the common intention to kill the deceased suspects.”
After a thorough probe into the encounter killings, the Supreme Court-appointed Justice V.S. Sirpurkar Commission submitted its report to the apex court in a sealed cover on January 28 this year. The report, which was made public, says the accused were deliberately fired upon with the intent to cause their death.
