Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has asked district police chiefs to ensure that schools in their areas have adequate security measures in place, after a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a peon inside the premises of a private school in Shahdara. The deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) of all districts have been asked to talk to school authorities and conduct regular security audits. “The DCPs will be advising schools to hire staff from authorised agencies. The schools also should get a police verification done of the hired staff,” said Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson, Delhi Police.
Security audits would mean checking whether there is any particular time the children are left unattended, areas where the staff and children have access to and whether the teachers are handing over the students to their parents or leaving them unattended, explained the officer. The schools will be asked to ensure that there are CCTV cameras installed inside the premises.
The 40-year-old peon of Tagore Public School has been arrested for allegedly raping the girl inside the Shahdara school. The incident came close on the heels of the gruesome killing of a seven-year-old boy who had his throat slit for allegedly resisting sexual assault by a bus conductor of a Gurgaon school – an incident which sent shock waves across the country.
