20 November,2014 08:22 AM IST | | Chaitraly Deshmukh
The Pune Regional Transport Office has issued a notice to a 30-year-old driver of a school van, who was arrested by Warje Malwadi police for raping a 6-year-old girl repeatedly
The Pune Regional Transport Office has issued a notice to a 30-year-old driver of a school van, who was arrested by Warje Malwadi police for raping a 6-year-old girl repeatedly. The RTO said it intended to suspend his licence under the Motor Vehicles Act as well as his school permit to ply for the institute.
Other than seven official buses to ply its students, the school employs the services of seven private vans, one of which belonged to the accused
Last Friday, cops arrested Sandeep Kumbhar (30) for raping and molesting the child. A separate case was registered against him for attempting suicide in police lockup. Kumbhar, a private van driver who drove the student to and from school, is currently in judicial custody and will be rearrested in the second case soon.
Pune Regional Transport Office Jitendra Patil said, "Our team of prosecution staffers has made enquiries at the school and interacted with the police. He has a permit to drive the school van that he owns; he had sought it from us some eight months back. We have received a copy of his contract with the school. We have sent him a notice and will be suspending his permit and licences."
He added that the Pune Municipal Corporation's education board would also initiate action and scrutinise the contract with the school.
Background
According to the police, the child was sexually abused from November 11 till November 13 near the school gate in the arrested person's van. After cops interacted with other children who commuted in the same van with her, they learnt that the driver would hold her back deliberately and sexually assault her.
On Monday evening, cops received the medical report from doctors who confirmed that the child was sexually abused. Kumbhar has been booked under sections 376(2) (rape) and 354 (molestation) of the of IPC, and under sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Later, he was booked under section 309 (attempted suicide) for trying to kill himself by banging his head against windowpanes inside the Warje Malwadi police lockup on Saturday.
