The investigation into the death of a six-year-old girl in Gujarat’s Dahod district has revealed shocking facts. The Class 1 student was allegedly strangled by her school principal after she resisted his attempts to sexually abuse her.
He then threw her body in the school yard and her bag and shoes near her classroom. The police have arrested suspect Govind Nath (55). Senior police officer Rajdeep Singh Jhala said the body of the six-year-old girl was found on the school premises on Thursday night, triggering panic in the area.
An autopsy revealed that she had died of suffocation. The Dahod police registered a case and formed 10 teams to investigate. The girl’s mother told the police that the girl used to go to school every day with the principal, Govind Nath. When police spoke to him, he said he would drop the girl off at the school and then go to work.
The police were not convinced. A geolocation check of Govind Nath’s mobile phone on the day of the incident revealed that he had arrived at the school later that day.
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During questioning, the principal of the Dahod school confessed to the heinous crime. “I went to pick up the girl from her home at around 10.20 am and helped her mother put her in my car and saw her off, but she never arrived at school,” the NDTV quoted the principal as telling the police.
“On the way to school, the principal tried to molest the girl after which she started screaming,” a senior police officer said, adding that the principal strangled her to stop her screaming.
On reaching the school, the principal left the girl’s body in his car and locked it. “Around 5 pm, he dumped the body behind the school building and left her school bag and shoes outside the classroom. He initially denied this but after technical analysis, we suspected him,” Jhala said.
According to the police, Govind Nath has been booked under stringent charges under the People’s Republic of India Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Provincial Education Minister Kubar Dindor said the Dahod rape and murder case was a shameful incident for society. “It hurts me. We have pursued this for three days. We have told the police to get to the bottom of the incident. The principal has been arrested.” I condemn this incident and will take steps to prevent such crimes from being repeated.”
