9-Year-Old Girl Alleges Sexual Assault By School Teacher

A 9-year-old girl who had been persistently refusing to go to school finally revealed to her parents on Thursday that she was sexually abused by a male teacher.

The Musheerabad police said on Friday that the girl’s parents said that she had been expressing disinterest in going to school in some way or another since she was in class 3.

Girl Alleges Sexual Abuse By Teacher

In the complaint, her parents mentioned that the girl would go to school for two or three days and then stay back at home for the rest of the week, complaining of stomach aches or headaches. This year, the girl had even requested that her parents change schools, but they continued to send her to the same school.

The police revealed that the male teacher had touched the girl inappropriately while walking back and forth in the classroom. The girl had shared the ordeal with two of her classmates, who would protect her whenever the teacher moved closer. The girl was so scared of him that she refused to go to school.

Musheerabad police have registered a case based on the complaint from the minor girl’s parents. The teacher has been booked on charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Why as parents we must have open conversations with our kids?

This is why parents need to have open and honest conversations with their children at home. When parents make it a practise to make time for their children, sit down with them, and talk to them about their day, they will see a change in the children’s behavioural patterns, if any. And it's mandatory that this conversation includes sex education. That would make it easier for both the parents and the child to break the ice and have a transparent conversation.

Having parents who make time for them and listen to them every day regardless of their hectic schedules helps to solidify the parent-child bond. 

Children need to constantly be assured that their parents are their safe space and that they can approach them no matter what. Only then will children feel comfortable opening up about such ordeals.

In this case, the girl had shared that incident with a couple of her friends before revealing it to her parents. As parents, it’s our responsibility to work on providing a non-judgmental and safe space for our children to choose us as the first person to open up about anything that’s troubling them.

That way, we’ll be able to resolve the issue before it escalates. While it can be difficult with the way we were raised and our hectic schedules, we are the cycle-breaker generation, and it’s up to us to inculcate gentle and respectful parenting. With predators at bay, we need to ensure that our children know that their parents have always got their backs, no matter what.

Views expressed by author are their own

Suggested Reading: Sex Education For Kids Labelled Immoral, But Sexual Harassment Is Not?