Maharashtra: 7-year-old girl sexually assaulted by canteen boy at school in Palghar

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A 7-year-old girl student was allegedly sexually assaulted by a teen working in the canteen at a private school in Maharashtra's Palghar district, the police said on Saturday, reported the PTI.

According to the news agency, 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.

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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, as per the PTI.

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.

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.

College student stalked, harassed in Mumbra; search on for culprit

Meanwhile, in an another incident, a 22-year-old woman college student was allegedly harassed by an unidentified man near Mumbra railway station in the district, police said on Saturday, reported the PTI.

While the incident took place on the evening of August 22, police are still trying to ascertain the culprit's identity, said an official.

The incident came amid widespread outrage over the sexual assault of two kindergarten girls at a school at Badlapur in the district.

The woman was walking home from college around 6.30 pm when a young man -- about 25 years old, thin with long hair -- stalked her, as per the complaint.

When the woman tried to call her brother for help, he gave her a shove. She raised alarm and some passersby chased the man but he succeeded in escaping, the police official said.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 78(1) (stalking) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman).

"We are taking this case very seriously and have launched thorough investigation," said an official of Mumbra police station, as per the PTI.

(with PTI inputs)