7-year-old girl sexually assaulted by canteen boy at private school in Palghar; accused detained

NEW DELHI: A seven-year-old girl student was allegedly sexually assaulted by a teen working in the canteen at a private school in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Saturday. Based on a complaint, the police on Friday detained the 16-year-old accused, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, and sent him to a remand home, senior inspector Ramesh Bhame of Naigaon police station said.

The alleged incident occurred at a private school in Naigaon, he said. The matter came to light when the girl, a Class 2 student, refused to go to the school canteen on Thursday and informed her class teacher that an "uncle" working there troubled her, the official said. The school headmaster was informed, and further inquiries with the girl revealed that the accused allegedly sexually assaulted her on three to four occasions over the last 15 days, he said.

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The headmaster intimated the Naigaon police, and a case was registered under sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said. The police have seized the CCTV footage from the school and are enquiring if the accused had similarly abused any other student, he said. The accused had come to work in the canteen two months ago from Uttar Pradesh, the official said.