50-year-old school bus driver rapes 6-year-old girl

Rajkot: A six-year-old girl, a nursery student, was allegedly raped by the 50-year-old driver of her school bus on Tuesday, within the jurisdiction of Vinchhiya police in Rajkot district, police officials said. The girl's mother filed a complaint against a local man employed as a bus driver by the school, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 65(2) and Sections 5(1), 6 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Police said the victim and the accused live in the same village. The FIR alleges that the accused engaged in inappropriate physical contact on Jan 13 and raped the child on Jan 20. Investigators said the accused allegedly lured the girl away with chocolates and took her a short distance from her home to commit the crime. Inspector A C Damor of Vinchhiya police said the alleged crime came to light on Wednesday after the child refused to go to school and told her mother what had happened. Police arrested the accused within hours. He will be produced in court on Friday. Both victim and accused have undergone medical examinations, and police said scientific evidence is being collected as part of the investigation. Police said the accused has a daughter — who is married — and a son.