Bagmundi (Purulia), Feb. 22: Two girls of a private residential school in Purulia have alleged that a teacher raped them repeatedly since the Puja holidays last year.
The girls, aged eight and nine, are hostel students of the primary school. The 25-year-old teacher, who has been missing since Tuesday, also doubled as the hostel superintendent.
On Sunday, when parents are allowed to visit the residential students, the nine-year-old complained to her mother of abdominal pain.
When her mother questioned her repeatedly, the girl, a student of Class III, told her the teacher had been raping her since she had returned to school after the Puja holidays.
The woman informed her husband, an LIC agent who was in Jamshedpur for work.
The girl's father said today: "I spoke to the school headmaster and rushed down the next day (Monday) and got to know more details from other children. My daughter was not the only one."
The father of a Class II girl, who is eight years old, also complained to the headmaster the same day about the same teacher's alleged sexual assault on his daughter.
According to the family, the second girl also said she was raped after the Puja vacation.
Both parents lodged a complaint with Bagmundi police today.
"We have started two rape cases against the teacher. He is absconding but we hope to arrest him soon," said the officer in charge Nilratan Ghosh.
There are 573 students in the co-educational private school. Of the 75 students who stay in the hostel, only 15 are girls. Most of the students are from Purulia district and from middle-class homes.
Today, the headmaster called the parents of all the hostel girls for a meeting, but before it could begin, word spread among the local residents about the alleged rapes of the little girls and a mob gathered outside the school, about 330km from Calcutta.
"I heard people shouting 'burn the school down' and became scared and called the police," the headmaster said.
The crowd was brought under control by policemen.
Asked why the girls had not complained earlier, the father of the Class III girl said: "Fear and shame had kept them mum."
He said his daughter had given her mother the details only after being "persistently asked".
The headmaster said the accused teacher told him yesterday that he had urgent work and would have to leave Bagmundi. He said he would return in two days.
A police officer said the mobile phone of the accused teacher is switched off.
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