BURDWAN: The arrest of 42-year-old Chandi Das for allegedly raping a nursery student in an English-medium school in Greater Noida was met with disbelief and anxiety at his home in Kumardihi village, 87km from Burdwan in West Bengal Chandi, his relatives claimed, had been working in the school for the past 13 years and never had any complaints against him. His 11-year-old son, too, studies in the same school. “Chandi’s wife Rita called us last night to inform about the arrest. She was inconsolable. We are also trying to come to terms with the news. He had been here with his wife and son a month-and-a-half ago and stayed for a week. I don’t know how we will deal with the situation, we are poor people,” Chandi’s elder brother Sishir said.Sishir said Chandi’s 80-year-old father-in-law had fallen ill in Birbhum’s Hatampur after hearing about the allegation and the subsequent arrest.“I returned from Delhi on July 10 after staying with them in their house,” Sishir said. “Though I desperately want to go there now, I don’t have the means. Rita told us his senior colleagues in school, including the principal, were trying their best to help the family.”In Noida, Chandi’s wife Rita said she had spoken to her husband at the police station on Friday. “He said he had been questioned by the police (in school) and then arrested. I don’t know what to do now.”Sishir’s neighbours in the Burdwan village said,Chandi had left for Delhi when he was 17 and had settled in the capital since. “He remains in touch with his family,” a neighbour said, unwilling to be identified.Chandi had left for Delhi when he was 17 and had settled in the capital since. “He remains in touch with his family,” a neighbour said, unwilling to be identified.

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