A six-year-old schoolgirl has allegedly been raped by two staff members at a prominent school in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, police say.<\/p>\n
The alleged assault happened on 2 July but her parents discovered it only a few days ago after she complained of stomach ache and was taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, hundreds of parents have protested outside the school, pulling down its gates and shouting slogans.<\/p>\n
Police have registered a case, but they are yet to make any arrests.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Andrew North in Delhi says it’s the latest in a series of sexual assault cases that have made headlines in India.<\/p>\n
Figures show more rapes are being reported in general, which is a sign that the crime is being taken more seriously, our correspondent reports. But India’s sluggish judicial system means it can take years for victims to get justice.<\/p>\n
New Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised a zero tolerance approach on crimes against women, but violence and discrimination against women remain deeply entrenched in society.<\/p>\n
The girl was allegedly raped by a security guard and a gym teacher, but as there are multiple guards and gym instructors in the school, police say they are trying to identify the guilty, BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi reports from Bangalore.<\/p>\n
As news of the incident became public, hundreds of parents gathered outside the school, protesting against the alleged insensitivity of the school management.<\/p>\n
“They have handled it very shoddily,” said Vivek Sharma, parent of a boy studying in the school.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, school chairman Rustom Kerawala addressed a meeting of the parents where he offered his “sincere apologies” and promised “full co-operation” with the police investigation.<\/p>\n
Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.<\/p>\n
The brutal crime led to massive outrage in the country and forced the government to introduce tougher anti-rape laws, including the death penalty in rare cases.<\/p>\n
But the law appears to have failed to act as a deterrent. Statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau for 2013 show one rape was reported every 21 minutes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A six-year-old schoolgirl has allegedly been raped by two staff members at a prominent school in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, police say. The alleged assault happened on 2 July but her parents discovered it only a few days ago after she complained of stomach ache and was taken to hospital. Meanwhile, hundreds of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":32578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n