PUNE: The Chakan police on Sunday registered an offence against two teachers and as many caretakers of a boarding school in Khed taluka for allegedly torturing a 16-year-old girl student with learning difficulties.The girl’s mother, who stays in Chinchwad, had lodged a complaint against the suspects with the Chakan police on Sunday.The woman alleged in her complaint that the teachers and the caretakers used to beat up her daughter by tying her limbs. She also accused them of inflicting burns on her daughter’s hands and administering sedatives to her.The police have booked the four persons under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and the relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.Chakan police senior inspector Sunil Pawar told TOI that prima facie probe revealed that the there was no sexual assault on the girl. “She is undergoing treatment in a hospital,” he said.The girls family had admitted her in the boarding school for special children for development and education in June last year.“The girl’s mother had gone to the boarding school last month and found that she was badly injured,” Pawar said.Her eyes were swollen. She had burn marks on her hands and signs of injuries on her body. The woman also came to know that the teachers and the caretakers would add sedatives in her daughter’s food and water and torture her,” a Chakan police officer said.The girl’s mother admitted her to a hospital and then lodged the complaint with the police, the officer said.“We are probing the case from all angles. The girl is not being able to speak. We have booked the teachers and the caretakers,” the officer added.A former manager (58) of a special school and hostel was arrested on February 27 for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl with learning difficulties.The girls’ mother lodged a complaint with the Kothrud police, stating that the former manager had sexually assaulted her daughter for the past two months.The man was arrested under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.After going all out to enforce registration of child care institutions and shut down those refusing to comply, the women and child development ministry had in December last year directed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to formulate guidelines for children’s hostels. The ministry had also prescribed the minimum standards of care. These guidelines will be notified under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

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