The city police on Monday urged the Delhi High Court to cancel the bail granted to a 57-year-old staff member accused of raping a three-year-old girl inside a private school in west Delhi's Janakpuri earlier this month.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee issued notice to the accused, Lalit Kumar, on the police's plea challenging the trial court order which granted bail to him on May 7 in the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
Terming it a "gross case", Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju said the accused faces a minimum punishment of 20 years imprisonment for the offence, but the trial court granted him relief within a few days of his arrest, despite the survivor identifying him as the perpetrator.
"The 3-year old child has identified him.. Within seven days he was granted bail. This is gross case. This actually is a case of cancellation at the stage of notice," ASG Raju said.
The counsel for the complainant said they have also filed a petition against the bail order, which was likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.
The court listed the case for hearing on May 29 and sought the stand of the accused.
The incident came to light on May 1 when the child’s mother filed a complaint at Janakpuri police station. She alleged that on the second day of taking admission at the school, her daughter was sexually assaulted. According to the complaint the child informed her mother that she was taken to an isolated area inside the school where the 57-year old caretaker assaulted her.
Acting on the complaint, police registered a case under Section 64(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 6 of the POCSO Act (Section 6 mandates a minimum of 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, which can be extended to life imprisonment, or death penalty for the offence). The caretaker was arrested on May 1 after the child identified him; however, he was granted bail on May 7 despite opposition from the prosecution.
This has triggered outrage and protests by political parties and residents.The police said they were checking the school's CCTV footage.
A female teacher was also arrested by the police in connection with the matter.