Dahod police claimed to have arrested the principal accused of killing a girl of his school when she reportedly resisted an assault bid by him.
The body of the six-year-old Class 1 girl was found in the backyard of a government primary school in Singvad taluka of Gujarat’s Dahod district on Thursday last (Sept 19).
Govind Nat, the principal, allegedly smothered her when she resisted his attempt to sexually assault her in his car on the way to school, police said.
Around 10.20 am on Thursday, the principal, who was passing by in his car, agreed to take the child to school in the vehicle at her mother’s request. Students and teachers told police that the girl did not attend school that day.
Police said the principal confessed after being confronted with questions regarding the child’s absence from school Thursday as well as his own “time of leaving” the premises. The principal allegedly dumped the body in the school backyard after school hours, having kept it hidden in his car the entire day as he went about his routine.
Dahod SP Rajdeepsinh Zala said, “After a detailed investigation, it was certain that the child was last seen with the school principal.”
Zala said initially the principal said he “was unaware” where the child went after he dropped her at school, but later confessed.
The police said that from the technical investigation of the principal’s mobile phone, it was established that he had taken “longer than usual” to reach the school Thursday morning.
From the girl’s classmates as well as teachers, the police learnt that she had not come to school nor was her body seen in the backyard during school hours. “Moreover, the students and teachers said that the victim’s footwear and bag were also not present in the classroom throughout the day…,” the police said.
According to the police, one of the students had also said that he had “seen the victim sleeping in the principal’s car”, when school dispersed. The investigation also established that the principal “left the school at the end” after everyone else, the police said.
Meanwhile, Dahod District Education officer AA Bariya, who visited the school on Saturday, has issued show-cause notice to the school principal as well as the teachers concerned to explain why they had not reported the missing child if her bag was in the classroom.
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