TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
VASCO: The man accused of sexually assaulting the seven-year-old schoolgirl in a Vasco school is believed to have posed as a policeman to lure the girl, before committing the heinous crime in the school toilet on Monday.
While the incident has sparked off widespread condemnation across the state, the family has been shattered by the incident and claimed that the culprit was neither known to their daughter or them.
When Herald visited the residence of the family, the visibly-distraught mother said her daughter was alone when the incident had taken place on Monday.
The mother claimed her daughter had withdrawn from activities in the school following a wound she had sustained some days earlier.
“My daughter had injured her left knee and had received several stitches. As she had some difficulty in walking, she did not go to play with other school friends these past few days and would sit in the classroom. As a result, she was alone during recess on Monday,” informed the mother.
Narrating the sequence of events, as told to her by her daughter, the mother said her daughter had gone to the school toilet and she noticed the accused in the toilet room.
“The man spoke in Hindi and told my girl that he was a policeman,” said the mother.
Her daughter described the culprit as tall, thin and wheatish in complexion, with shiny hair and a pony tail.
“The culprit later covered my girl’s mouth, latched the toilet door from the inside and sexually assaulted her,” said the mother, as tears rolled down her cheeks.
The mother said they were informed of the incident, when the school headmistress had notified her husband, who in turn, alerted her and told her to rush to the school.
“I reached the school at about 12.30 pm and the headmistress narrated the incident to me, in the presence of my daughter. It was then that the police reached the site and took over the investigations. I was totally blank at the time and could not answer all questions,” said the inconsolable mother.
The mother said her husband had reached the school shortly after her and they were in the school along with their daughter till about 6 pm, before she was taken for a medical check-up by a police team. They were later dropped to their house after a medical check-up.
She further stated that the crime branch police had visited their residence on Tuesday afternoon with a photograph for identification and had recorded the statements of her daughter.
Meanwhile, Mormugao police with the help of the crime branch has interrogated about 40 suspects so far and are investigating the case.
