BENGALURU: The hostel warden of a private residential international academy school near Electronics City was arrested on charges of abetting the sexual assault of a class 10 student by his seniors and classmates.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act were invoked against the warden 48, who was sent to judicial custody in Bengaluru Central Prison.
The principal of the institution, arraigned as suspect number eight in the complaint registered with Bannerghatta police, will be summoned for questioning.
The remaining six suspects named in the FIR — a mix of class 12, 11 and 10 students at the institution — have been directed to remain in their hostel rooms and not go out without police permission.
"Six students have been booked under JJ Act and Pocso Act, 2012 — three from class 12, one from class 11 and two from class 10. They are accused of sexually assaulting the boy and performing acts of unnatural sex by barging into this room at night. Once the suspects' parents arrive, we will continue the investigation," said a police officer.
The father of the 15-year-old student, who had joined the educational institution this year, filed a police complaint about his son's horrifying experience after he got to know about it during a phone conversation.
According to the complainant, who belongs to North Karnataka, neither the warden nor the principal of the institution acted against the accused juveniles even after his son complained against them several times. "Instead, they instigated the accused students to attack my son," the father stated in the complaint.
He told police the accused students stripped the boy on Sept 3 night and forced him to dance naked. They hit the boy with different objects, including steel hangers, when he stopped dancing.
The same group again went to the boy's room the next night — Sept 4 — stripped him and forced him to dance naked. This time, when the boy stopped dancing, he was sexually assaulted by the group. The mistreatment continued on the nights of Sept 5-6. They poured hot and cold water on him before leaving, the complaint said.
The complaint claimed the hostel warden was angry with the boy for helping some fellow students complain to the principal about his misbehaviour.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect his privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)