New Delhi: Three siblings, aged between seven and 13 years, allegedly became victims of the worst form of serial abuse at the hands of a man their mother had trusted — the driver of their school van, reports Times of India.
A 12-year-old girl and her two brothers are alleged to have been habitually raped and sodomized for the past eight months by the driver of their private van and his four friends.
The children were threatened with dire consequences and forced to keep quiet even as they repeatedly went through the same torture. Their widowed mother, who recently came to know of the grisly tale, was also threatened against complaining to the police.
Law finally caught up with the accused driver on Friday when he was arrested after a medical examination of the girl, who studies in class VII, confirmed rape, said DCP (central) Jaspal Singh.
Though the medical test of her brothers at Lady Hardinge Hospital did not confirm sodomy, the police are waiting for a more detailed medical report from the hospital.
The incident was reported from the Bapa Nagar area in central Delhi. The children had over the last few days stopped talking to their mother and were found to be missing classes regularly. They finally broke down and narrated their shocking tale to a neighbour, who is a social worker, on Friday.
The main accused, Lalit Ratawal (38), had for the past two-and-a-half years been driving the private van that dropped the children to two reputed schools in central Delhi. About one year back, he started harassing the children. Ratawal allegedly took them to different houses and forced them into sexual activities after intoxicating them.
Police said the victims' mother works for a living and is away for most part of the day. "Many other children travel in the same van.
But so far we believe he abused only these three siblings as they appeared to be soft targets," said a senior police officer.
Besides taking them to his own house, Ratawal allegedly also took them to another student's residence while his parents would be at work, said sources.
This boy is the girl's classmate at a leading public school in Old Rajinder Nagar. The girl was gangraped on several occasions. The youngest of the three siblings is a student of class III.
Police say they are questioning Ratawal to investigate the role of others and the possible chances of the accused abusing more such children. "The juvenile might also be apprehended if we find he was in the crime on his own will," said DCP Singh.
Subhash Naagar, the social worker who took the victims to lodge the complaint, told Times City, "The driver would take the children and indulge in sexual activities along with his friends.
He told the children's mother that he would distribute her kids' videos and even cause them physical harm if she complained about the incident. The children finally confided in me on Thursday morning after which I coaxed their mother to report the incident to police."
A case under Section 376 of IPC has been registered against the accused and the police are investigating the case. A hunt for the other accused has been launched.
