Rapist school cab driver sent to police custody

NEW DELHI - A school cab driver accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl and her two minor brothers for over a year and a half was sent to two days’ police custody by a city court Saturday.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja ordered the police to present Lalit Ratawal, 32, in court Sep 20.

Saturday morning, relatives of the children and neighbours slapped and assaulted Ratawal when he was being taken to court.

According to police sources, besides sexually exploting the three children, Ratawal was also involved in making MMS of the victims and the police needed time to find out information regarding it.

The accused, a resident of Bapa Nagar in Karol Bagh, would take the siblings to unknown destinations where he along with his four associates, aged below 18, would rape the girl and sodomise her two brothers, aged seven and 13, police said.

Ratawal had threatened to kill the children’s mother if they spoke of the ordeal to anyone. Hence, the heinous activities continued for more than a year, said a police official.

The girl told her mother a few weeks back, but the mother was scared and did not report to the police. It was only after a neighbour intervened that the police were informed.

A medical examination on the girl confirmed sexual assault, police said. Ratawal was arrested Friday. A hunt has been launched to nab the four minor associates of Ratawal.

“My childrens’ future is ruined. The police are not at all sympathetic and not taking any strict action against the culprits,” the mother of the children told reporters.