India: Six-Year-Old 'Raped by School Staff Members in Bangalore'

A six-year-old has been allegedly gang raped by two school staff members in Bangalore, South India, police have said.

The girl was allegedly raped at the Vibgyor School on 2 July. Her parents, however, discovered about the abuse only a few days later, when they took their daughter to the hospital after she complained about stomach ache.

The girl was allegedly raped by a security guard and a gym teacher.

Nobody has been arrested while police are continuing to interrogate all the guards and gym instructors in the school.

"We have a tough job on hand," said Deputy Commissioner of Police TD Pawar, who is supervising the investigation. "There are 27 gym instructors in the school. The two we have now are suspects. The girl is traumatised and we are trying to check with her as to who harmed her."

Another officer said: "We have interrogated the suspects. Their confessions will have to be corroborated by the child's statement.

"This is a tender age and we don't want to trouble the girl. The investigation is progressing slowly because of this. The case should be handled with sensitivity."

Meanwhile, dozens of parents have been gathering outside the school to protest.

On Thursday, school chairman Rustom Kerawala addressed a meeting where he offered his "sincere apologies" and promised "full cooperation" with the police in investigation.

The alleged rape is only the latest in a series of sexual abuse cases in India.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 25,000 rape cases were reported in 2012, of which 24,470 were committed by a relative or neighbour.

In 2013, the Bureau said that a rape was committed in India every 22 minutes.