Investigations into the horrific killing of a six-year-old girl in Dahod district of Gujarat have yielded shocking details. According to police, the Class I student was choked to death by the principal of the school, Govind Natt, after she resisted his attempts at sexual assault. The girl’s body was then hidden on the school premises after the crime, whereas her bag and shoes were left near the classroom.
The authorities added that the girl’s body was found on Thursday evening, and the school community was in an uproar. As the post-mortem examination showed, the girl died because of asphyxiation. After that, the police formed ten teams to investigate the case. According to the child’s mother, she always traveled to school with the Principal Natt. Natt told the police that he dropped the girl at school and then went out to attend to other business.
His account was viewed with skepticism, and the police examined location data from his phone on the day of the attack; it showed that he reached the school much later than he initially let on. After intense questioning, Natt buckled and confessed.
Senior police officer Rajdeep Singh Jhala quoted the principal as having said that he had picked her up at around 10:20 AM and her mother had helped her into the car. But the girl never reached school. Students and teachers corroborated this, too. She said that mid-way, the principal tried to assault her; she screamed for help, and to mute her, he strangled her.
Then, in the school, Natt concealed the girl’s body in his car and later buried it at the back of the building and then placed her belongings outside the classroom. First, he denied the allegations but later changed his statement after further technical analysis.
Govind Natt is under stringent charges under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the rigid Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
State Education Minister Kuber Dindor condemned the incident as a ‘shame to society.’ “I am deeply pained by this. We have been keeping a close watch on this case for the last three days and asked the police to investigate thoroughly. Arresting the principal was required, and steps will be taken to avoid such crimes in the future,” he said.
