Ranchi: The mother of the three-year-old boy allegedly sexually assaulted by his play school driver said on Saturday that her child was violated regularly but she came to know about it only on April 4.

Speaking to this paper, the mother said she found out something was wrong when her child said it hurt him when she tried to give him a massage.

When she asked him why, the boy told her driver Kunwar Kispotta, alias Munna, used to stop the van near a garbage pile between Little Angel's Nursery School at Old Commissioner's Compound and the child's Hindpiri home, sent the school maid on the van away and assaulted him.

Then, apparently, the maid would come back to the vehicle and the boy would be dropped home.

Little Angels Play School principal Sandhya Bagla demanded a high-level probe into the matter saying that truth must come out.

"When the boy's mother came to me on April 5 complaining against the driver, I asked her to ensure immediate medical examination of the boy and the driver in the interests of justice. She was hesitant and said it won't be in the interest of boy and the school. She said she wouldn't continue her son's studies here and demanded Rs 5,000 for his medical treatment and a refund of Rs 2,600 she had paid for books. Though the school fee of the boy who joined school on October 4, 2017, was due since January this year, I fulfilled all her demands to ensure justice. But she mysteriously remained silent for a long time and filed an FIR on April 21," principal Bagla said.

The mother, when asked, said she delayed going to the police as her focus was on getting her son medical attention.

"My son had fallen ill after the assaults. I took my son for treatment to Dr Rajeev Mishra on April 5 at Astha Nursing Home. Then, we went to Dr A.S. Prasad at Madhuri Nursing Home, Kantatoli. Both motivated me to take action," she said. "But even after he recovered, rashes appeared on his body. I was busy caring for him," she said.

She said she accepted money from the school for medical treatment. "That they paid money suggests something wrong," the mother said.

Bagla, however, said no one had complained against the "well-mannered" driver even once in the 20 years of his service with the school.

Stressing on a high-level probe "to find out the truth", the principal said, "I don't doubt the incident. But sometimes the real culprit escapes due to delay in proper probe. I stand by the boy but don't want any innocent person to be punished."

She claimed Kispotta dropped the boy four times from March 26 to April 4.

"The van has GPRS and hardly took 16 minutes to reach Central Street in Hindpiri (the boy's home) and return. Apart from this, the maid deputed on the van never complained about the driver's conduct," adding her school had 16 CCTV cameras, 18 teachers and 10 maids to take care of over 300 children.

Dr Mishra could not be contacted for his comments. Dr Prasad, a skin specialist, said he had treated the boy for rashes and boosted the morale of the depressed mother. "As far as sexual assault is concerned, I personally did not check it. I learnt about the incident through newspapers."

Though a section of the media reported on Saturday that DIG South Chotanagpur A.B. Homkar had said that a RIMS medical board confirmed sexual assault, Homkar did not confirm it to The Telegraph. "The matter is under probe," he said. He conceded the medical board report did arrive, but did not wish to share it now.

Are boys equally at risk of sexual assault as girls? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com