Hyderabad: School driver gets 20-year jail for assaulting 4-yr-old

Hyderabad: A Fast Track Special Court for Rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) on Tuesday sentenced driver of a private school in Hyderabad to 20 years of jail for sexually assaulting a four-year-old student. The court held Beemana Rajani Kumar (34) guilty and awarded the sentence. It, however, acquitted school principal S Madhavi Rajani Kumar, who was working as the principal's driver, and was arrested on October 19 last year for sexually assaulting the LKG student. The principal of DAV Public School in Banjara Hills was also arrested for negligence. The incident came to light after the parents of the victim noticed behavioral changes in her.

According to police, on 18 October, 2022, the Banjara Hills police received a complaint from the mother of the victim, stating that the accused, Beemana Rajani Kumar, had been sexually abusing her daughter for two months. The accused took the victim to the digital classroom and sexually abused her. The entire incident took place in the school, with the negligence of the principal, S Madhavi.

The police immediately registered a case against the driver and the principal, and within hours, apprehended the accused. The entire investigation was over in just 34 days, citing 19 witnesses. The inquiry officer (IO) filed the Charge Sheet before the Hon'ble Special Court, which conducted the trial against the accused persons.

On Tuesday, the Court (Fast Track Special Court for Rape & POCSO) at HACA Bhavan pronounced judgment against the accused persons. Beemana Rajani Kumar was convicted and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, with a fine of Rs 5000.

As the incident had triggered outrage, the government had also constituted a committee to recommend measures to ensure safety and security of the students in schools. The SHE teams &Bharosa team counselled the victim, comforted her and worked in tandem with the IO, other officers throughout the trial.

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The City Police Commissioner C V Anand on Tuesday felicitated P Rukmini, Inspector of SHE teams &Bharosa; Legal counsellor Kalpana; Counsellor Radharani and support person Dharani; B Manoj Kumar, SI Banjara Hills; Court duty & summons officers K Naresh Kumar, S Ramulu, Venkat Krishna, M A Baig, V Venkatesh, Akkula Reddy and public prosecutor Pratap Reddy.

Anand applauded the officers for their exceptional work and dedication. The concerted efforts of all arms of the criminal's justice system led to the conviction of the accused in record time.