Minor sexually abused in school van; conductor held

Bhopal, PTI: A three-year-old girl was purportedly sexually abused in a school van by its conductor, who has been detained, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday when the girl, a pre-nursery student, was returning home in the van from her school in Ayodhya Nagar, they said.

The van conductor was detained on Thursday night, police inspector Baljeet Singh said.

"The accused is claiming he is 17 years old. We are verifying his age," he said.

The inspector said the victim returned home at around 2 pm and told her mother about the incident when she took her for bathing.

When her mother inquired more about the incident, the minor girl named the conductor of the van, the inspector said.

The 14-seater van, in which the incident took place, has been hired by the school in which the girl studies, he said.

Her parents later lodged a police complaint against the van conductor, Singh said.

The accused was booked for rape under Section 376 AB of the amended Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with punishment for rape of girls under the age of 12, and under Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, he said.

Last year, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a bill introducing the death penalty for those found guilty of raping minors aged 12 years or less.