In a deeply disturbing incident, 8 to 10 students from the second standard of a private school in Thane's Kapurbawdi were molested by an outside staff member on the school bus. The incident occurred during the students' return from a picnic at Kidzania Theme Park at R City Mall, Ghatkopar. Shockingly, parents were unaware that the outside staff was accompanying the students, despite having given their consent.
The molestation incident has sparked strong protests from enraged parents against the school administration. Concerns about the safety of students have been raised, as the incident affected both girls and boys. The accused has been apprehended and is being held at the Kapurbawdi police station.
According to the police FIR, at around 3 PM, the accused, while traveling in the bus with registration number MH 04 GB 2428 of Adventure Tours and Travels company, from Kidzania Theme Park, R City Mall, Ghatkopar, Mumbai for a picnic, secretly touched the private parts of the minor girls sitting on the bus seat, and offered chips and sandwiches to them, placing his hand between the two girls, causing embarrassment and violating the modesty of all the private parts of minor girls, resulting in a crime.
It is understood that a picnic of Class 2 went in which e and f divisions were there. There were a total of 40 students, 3 teachers, and 2 vendors on the bus in which the misbehavior took place. After returning from the picnic, the students immediately informed their parents. Later the parents told the school administration but they were not responding in a proper manner and hence, they went to the police. The parents were there till 3 am midnight at the police station. Many parents allege that the school administration wasn’t showing any sympathy towards the affected children and instead, they were trying to cover up the incident.
Senior PI of Kapurbawdi Sandeep Dhande told LokmatTimes.com, “Accused has been arrested. It is indeed a concerning issue. We will take appropriate action and the case is under investigation.” Many parents demanded the school principal should resign immediately. They also demanded that the cash taken for the picnic should be refunded. Questions were being raised on the inaction of the school for not apologizing for the grave crime and hiring a private vendor without any prior checks and balances. Meanwhile, the 3 teachers who were present inside the bus have been terminated by the school.