Pune rape victim needs urgent counselling

Traumatised by the alleged sexual assault by her 42-year-old teacher, the 12-year-old rape victim in a village school in Khed taluka took three days to open up about the incident.

Speaking to DNA, the Kaman village school principal, Babanrao Bute, said that before leaving for the inter-school competition in Khed on December 9 and 10, he had given charge of the school to the senior teacher, Prabhakar Burse. “On December  13, the  cook  who comes to school to prepare khichadi informed me a girl had been sexually abused by Burse.”

The principal said, “The moment I asked her, tears began to roll and she clamped up.” On December 16, the victim’s mother was called to school, informed about the incident and counseling not to beat or abuse her daughter. One of four siblings, the alleged victim’s father works as a cobbler and mother is a daily wage earner.

The alleged rape by Burse — who is a father of three children, two daughters and a son — came to light only on December 18, when the girl’s mother lodged a first information report at Khed police station. Burse was arrested last Wednesday and remanded to three days in police custody. His wife is also a school teacher in Burse village.

Speaking to DNA, the girl said, “I love Marathi and I like to wear saris, so I wanted to become a Marathi teacher.  But I wanted to be
a good teacher.”

On prodding her further, she said, “Initally, Sir (Burse) use to sit beside me and I thought he is good; but later I started feeling uneasy with him. I thought if I complain to my parents about the incident, they will beat me and ask me to leave school. Now when I go to school my classmates tease me and I feel embarrassed.”

The victim’s mother told DNA, “After the incident she used to remain quiet and pale. As her father was not keeping well, I was tense that day and did not pay attention to her. After four days the school informed me about the incident. After my evening work I interacted with her and she reluctantly narrated the incident to me.

“We took the issue up with the gram panchayat, which tried to sweep the crime under the carpet by offering to pay us Rs1.50 lakh. But I said,  ‘Can I get my daughter’s virginity back?’ He (Burse) must be penalised and hanged to death. Now my daughter says she does not want to continue education and perfers to become a domestic help.”

A Shiv Sena party activist, Vijaya Shinde, took up the issue and informed the police. Sub-inspector Seema Dhakane approached the victim’s household in casual clothes to ascertain the reports she had heard, then recorded her statement. On December 17 and 18, the victim underwent medical tests.

The victim’s class comprises of 13 students: four girls and nine boys. One girl told DNA, “We miss her. We will not tease her. (on
December 9) when we were playing on the swing near the banayan tree, Sir called her to the store-room. I saw that he made her lie over two sacks and covered her mouth with a handkerchief.”