Nainital: Following the sexual assault on a three-and-a-half-year-old girl child in Haldwani , protests were held by several residents in front of the school where the girl was a student of the nursery class.The residents also raised questions on the safety measures being adopted inside school vans. A protester Shamit Agarwal said, “The incident is outrageous. The kind of trauma the child has to go through is unacceptable in any civil society. We demand strict punishment for everyone responsible in the case. The school administration should also be held accountable for failing to adhere to the safety guidelines.”Father of a girl, Vinay S Sharma, said, “After such incidents, how can I allow my children to travel in school buses? There is serious lapse in the case and it should be investigated properly.”According to the guidelines, CCTV cameras should be installed in buses and vans that are on school duty. However, of the odd-500 buses in Haldwani, over 400 are without CCTV cameras, thus violating the set guidelines.Gopal Singh Bisht, president of public school association in Haldwani, said, “We are in the process of installing CCTV cameras in all the buses. Of the 500 buses under us, we have covered a 100 already. Safety of students is our priority and we follow all the guidelines. The culprits should be given strict punishments so that such incidents are not repeated again.”Meanwhile, the district police said they are checking CCTV cameras in buses while probing the case as such lapses endanger security of children leaving them vulnerable to abuse.Nainital SSP Janmejay Khanduri said, “We have already arrested the accused and investigation is on in the case. We are probing every lapse and questioning whoever seems responsible, including the school administration. We are also looking into the violation of guidelines in school buses.”The child was allegedly sexually assaulted in Kathgodam last week and the matter came to light on Thursday when the girl complained of stomach ache and was taken to a doctor.The school is located about 10 km from her home and she is the last student to get dropped. The van takes nearly two hours to drop the child home from school.

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