Be vigilant on child sexual abuse: Maneka Gandhi to parents, schools

NEW DELHI: Union minister Maneka Gandhi today said the murder of a 7-year-old student on the Ryan International School campus was "unfortunate" and urged parents and school authorities to be vigilant about child sexual abuse.

The Class 2 student was found with his throat slit in a washroom in the school building yesterday morning. The police have arrested a school bus conductor for allegedly killing the child and attempting to sexually assault him.

"Yesterday's incident at Ryan School in Gurugram is highly unfortunate and my heart goes out to the bereaved parents. I urge all school authorities and parents to remain vigilant about any actual or suspected occurrences of child abuse," the Women and Child Development Minister said in a series of tweets.

She also said that the government was making "all out efforts" to deal with child sexual abuse and appealed to parents to report such occurances on the POCSO e-box -- an online complaint box for reporting child sexual abuse.

The e-box is an an initiative by the apex body for child rights, National Commission of Protection of Child Rights. It can be accessed on NCPCR's website.