The matter came to light when the girl, a second-grade student, refused to go to the school canteen.

A 16-year-old boy who worked in the canteen of a school in Maharashtra’s Palghar district sexually abused a seven-year-old girl several times on the school premises, police said.

The boy, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was arrested and sent to a remand centre, police added. The incident took place in Naigaon area of ​​Palghar. The boy had come from Uttar Pradesh two months ago to work in the canteen, news agency PTI reported, citing a police official.

The matter came to light when the girl, a second-grader, refused to go to the school canteen on Thursday and told her class teacher that an “uncle” who worked there was causing her trouble, the official said.

The school principal was informed and further investigations into the girl revealed that the accused had sexually abused her at least four times, he said.

The school principal informed the police and a case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Assault (POCSO) Act. The police have seized the video footage from the school and are now investigating whether the accused has abused other students in a similar manner.

Earlier this week, sexual harassment cases in Badlapur, Maharashtra, sparked massive protests against the police and their delayed action. The case reached the Bombay High Court, which took cognizance and made strong remarks on the incident in which two four-year-old girls were sexually harassed in a school by a 23-year-old man who was working as a cleaner there.

The outrage was also fuelled by the fact that the girls’ parents had to wait 11 hours at a local police station for a first information report. The three police officers involved have been suspended by the government. The Bombay High Court said: “If schools are not a safe place… what is the point of talking about ‘right to education’?”

The court also reprimanded the police and the state on several counts, including for failing to press charges against the school despite complaints from the girls – a disturbing reminder of how RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata delayed pressing charges in the rape and murder of a doctor this month.

– With inputs from PTI