Nalasopara rape case: School principal, supervisor booked after Mid-Day expose

A protest in support of the survivor outside the school premises last week. Pics/Hanif Patel

The Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have finally acted and booked the supervisor and principal of a Nalasopara school, where a minor girl was repeatedly raped by a teacher since March. This happened after mid-day highlighted errors in a POCSO case at Pelhar police station, where the supervisor and principal were not named.

The survivor's family thanked mid-day for their support. "Thank you, mid-day, for helping us," said the survivor's brother. "I protested on August 13 because the police hadn't named the supervisor and principal in the FIR, but our demands were ignored." He added, "We tried reaching local social workers and police officials, but nothing changed. After mid-day's coverage, I got a call from a police officer asking me to go to Pelhar police station to register a fresh FIR."

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Why principal and supervisor are booked?

In a new statement to the Pelhar police, the 14-year-old survivor said teacher Amit Dubey touched her inappropriately on August 14, 2022, during a school rehearsal. She complained to the supervisor, but he ignored her. "After I complained against Dubey sir to the supervisor he told me ‘beta tum galat soch rahi ho, sir aise nahi hain…tum chhoti ho, abhi vaisa mat socho...'," reads the statement of the rape survivor.

Amit Dubey allegedly touched the survivor inappropriately for the first time in August 2022

"Then I approached the principal of the school and I narrated him my ordeal. But he also replied the same saying ‘sir aise nahi hain, tum galat soch rahi ho; tumko aisa nahi sochna chahiye'." alleged the rape survivor. She has also alleged that she repeatedly complained to the principal but he ignored her. "Then I revealed everything to my brother, who questioned the principal, but the principal slapped him," the rape survivor added.

After the rape survivor's brother told his mother he was slapped by the principal, she confronted him. The principal claimed the brother made false allegations. "Since my mother is innocent, she believed the principal instead of us," said the brother. "The principal and supervisor suppressed the case since August 2022. This case invites an FIR under stringent sections of POCSO Act. Had they acted against Amit Dubey then, my sister wouldn't have been raped. Both are responsible, which is why we protested on August 13."

How matter came to light

The matter surfaced only after the survivor fainted inside the school premises on August 7. "She had been lying unconscious for more than three hours from 9 am to 12.30 pm at the school premises, but the school management did not inform us considering that the matter will take legal route. They had not even called in a doctor to treat my sister," he said.

"The school is located close from our house, but the school management did not inform us. I went to the school when she did not return. I saw her lying unconscious on a couch. We were shocked to see this as there was no doctor at all. We were told by students that she had been lying there since 9 am," he added. "The school management insisted I take her home but I got her admitted to a nearby hospital, where she told everything to the doctor," the brother said.

"The doctor told us that she is making a serious allegation against a school teacher who has raped her multiple times since March. So, after she was discharged from the hospital, we reached Pelhar police station wherethe cops had named only teacher Amit Dubey in an FIR on August 11 and had not defined the roles of the principal and supervisor in the crime," he added.

"So, on August 13, we staged a protest outside the school seeking legal action against the principal and supervisor. But the cops acted promptly only after mid-day highlighted the issue," he added. The principal and the supervisor of the school have been booked under section 21(2) of POCSO Act and sections 115(2) and 351(2) of BNS, 2023.

On Thursday, the cops recorded the statements of the survivor's brother and mother in connection with the case; her father's statement is yet to be recorded. No new arrests have been made so far. Pelhar police have served notices to the principal and supervisor of the school, according to an officer familiar with the investigation.

"The teacher Amit Dubey, who molested my younger sister in 2022 when she was a 12-year-old, raped her multiple times in 2024 only because the principal and the supervisor continued to shield him. Had strict legal action been taken against him after we complained against him, we would not have to see these brutal days today," the brother asserted.