School canteen worker held near Mumbai for abusing 7-year-old

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The Naigaon police arrested a 16-year-old school canteen worker for allegedly sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl near Mumbai. According to the police, the matter came to light when the victim refused to go to the canteen. "She complained to a teacher that one uncle in the canteen did not behave properly with her. The teacher told the principal, and an FIR was registered against the accused," said the police.

The FIR was registered on the basis of the principal's statement, as the girl's parents refused to register a complaint. According to the police, the survivor had tried to talk to her parents about the alleged harassment, but they did not take the matter seriously. The canteen owner told the cops that the accused had been working in the canteen for about two months after arriving in the city from Uttar Pradesh. "In the two months he worked there, the accused touched the girl inappropriately four to five times. She told the teacher about it on August 22," an officer said.

"We are going through footage from 60-70 CCTV cameras on the campus to check if the accused harassed any other child," said Naigaon Senior Inspector Ramesh Bhame. In another POCSO case, the Vakola police arrested a 21-year-old for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl. "They had met on social media. He kidnapped her, took her to Gujarat and raped her. The girl showed the accused's photo to her family they approached the police," said an officer from the Vakola police station.