Sexual assault: Mumbai school-trustee denied bail, asked to surrender immediately
What's the story
The founder-trustee of Andheri-based Tridha International School, accused of sexually assaulting a kindergarten student in 2016, has been denied bail by the Bombay High Court.
The court said Brillant Patrick Mauris, a French national, has to surrender immediately before a special POCSO court.
HC judge Revati Mohite-Dere nullified the special POCSO court order of November'17 that had granted bail to Mauris.
Judgment
HC counters POCSO court's claim of no evidence
The POCSO special court, while granting bail, had said there was no evidence to implicate Mauris and that he was not mentioned in the FIR or in the complaint in front of magistrate.
Mohite-Dere, however, said that the three-year-old toddler had identified Mauris through a photo and had recorded statements with the police that were "consistent with the complicity of Respondent No. 1 (Mauris)".
What happened
What is the case all about?
In May 2017, the child's parents noticed that she was touching her private parts repeatedly and enquired of any untoward incident.
She answered that a "boy teacher" hurt her and pointed at Mauris' photo on the school website.
The parents immediately lodged a complaint post which the MIDC police arrested him in November last year, but he was released two weeks later on bail.