How safe are our children? 9-year-old raped in play zone of Indore mall

• A teenage employee of a kids' zone of a mall raped a 9-year-old Thursday
• The incident took place when other children were playing nearby.
• The accused employee was thrashed by the parents present at the spot.
• The suspect has been booked under Pocso Act.

Children in India do not seem to be safe anywhere these days. Be it schools, coaching classes or play zones in malls, kids have been sexually harassed even in the least expected places.

Earlier in February, a class two student of a reputed convent school in the North Indian state of West Bengal was sexually assaulted several times. The accused teacher, who was later arrested had threatened to bury the child alive if she told about the harassment to her parents.

On November 30, 2017 four-year-old girl studying in the prestigious GD Birla School in North Kolkata was allegedly sexually assaulted by two of her teachers.

In another disturbing incident that made headlines in mid September, an 18-year-old student in Rajasthan was sexually assaulted several times by the director and a teacher of her school in Sikar city for two months.

A nine-year-old girl was raped in the kids' area of a mall in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district by a teenage employee on International Women's Day (March 8).

The horrific incident took place in the presence of a few other children, who were playing a few feet away in the Treasure Island mall. The instant the accused boy, a 19-year-old Arjun Rathore was caught sexually assaulting the child, he was thrashed by the parents. He was then handed over to the police.

The victim had gone to the mall along with her mother and younger brother. As they frequently visit the kid's zone, the victim's mother left the kids in the play area and went for shopping, The Times of India reported.

Eyewitnesses said that they saw Rathore taking the child to a corner but did not suspect foul play. The incident came to light when they saw the child crying.

On hearing about the incident, the minor's mother rushed to the kid's zone. "I had gone to the play zone along with my family and noticed the girl being led away. After a while, we saw her screaming. She was bleeding. I helped her reach her mother and then went with her to the police station as well," an eyewitness was quoted as saying by TOI.

The police are currently investigating the incident and the child has been sent for medical examination.

"The accused apparently penetrated her private parts, causing her to bleed," a police officer said.

The rape of the minor child has left her family traumatised.

"There were so many children around. Should we be scared to take our children to gaming zones now?" the minor's uncle was quoted as saying by TOI.

Such incidents of sexual assault of children has caused fear among many parents. While a few parents have stressed on the need of thorough background checks of staff members and getting CCTV cameras installed in the premises, others have even thought of home schooling their children.