DCPCR seeks action-taken reports in three cases involving children

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has taken suo motu cognisance of three cases involving children and sought action-taken reports from police and the education department in two weeks.

The cases include the alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl in a moving bus, sexual assault of a three-year-old and the death of a Class 7 student.

DCPCR Chairperson Om Prakash Vyas said notices have been issued to the Joint Commissioner of Police, Northern Range and the SHO of Kashmere Gate in connection with the alleged gang-rape of the teenager.

In the second case, involving the alleged sexual assault of a three-year-old nursery student by a school bus driver in Bawana, notices have been issued to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Outer North district, and the Directorate of Education, Vyas said.

The commission has also sought reports from the Deputy Commissioner of Police, East district, and the Directorate of Education over the death of a Class 7 student in Vinod Nagar. The girl’s family alleged that a teacher made her stand in the sun for not bringing a book to school.

Police said they arrested a school bus driver in the three-year-old girl’s sexual assault case after she identified him from photographs and CCTV footage. Police registered an FIR under relevant provisions of the POCSO Act.

In the Vinod Nagar case, the incident happened at a Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya on August 27. Police said the girl was taken to a hospital after her health deteriorated and died during treatment. Her family and locals later staged a protest outside the school, seeking action against those responsible.

The 16-year-old Class 11 student from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh was gang-raped by the conductor and driver of a sleeper bus in Noida. Police said they arrested two accused individuals and seized the vehicle for forensic examination. After committing the crime, they abandoned the girl near Kashmere Gate, police said.

Vyas said the commission has received around 400 complaints, mostly related to the Right to Education, and has taken suo motu cognisance in several matters.

The Delhi government reconstituted the DCPCR on July 7. Rahul Gautam, Kundan Kanskar, Swati Gupta and Monika Sharma were appointed as members. The appointments were made nearly three years after the commission fell vacant.