Gujarat school principal held for killing 6-year-old girl after failed molestation bid

VADODARA: Police on Sunday arrested the principal of a govt primary school in Dahod district for allegedly killing a six-year-old girl student after she resisted his attempt to sexually molest her. Police had launched a probe after the child's body was found inside the school compound in a village of Singvad taluka on Thursday evening.
Dahod superintendent of police Rajdeepsinh Zala said on Sunday that the principal, Govind Nat, has admitted to committing the crime.The girl was studying in Class 1 at Torni primary school in Singvad taluka of the district.
The development stunned the girl's parents as well as the entire village, as 50-year-old Nat was associated with the school for the past 18 years.
"Nat has admitted to committing the crime. We have got all the relevant evidence. He first tried to rape the girl in his car and when she screamed for help, he smothered her to death," said Zala. The girl had gone missing on Sept 19, following which her family began searching for her.
Postmortem report shows girl was smothered to death
The family even asked Nat, who had given her a ride in his car from her home on that day on her mother's request. Nat, though, claimed that she had got down from his car at the school and feigned ignorance about her disappearance. The girl's body was found in the school compound the same day evening. "The postmortem report showed that she was smothered to death, following which we began investigations. We focused on Nat as he had given her a lift to the school and he was the last person to see her alive. His answers were evasive and he kept changing his statements, following which our suspicion grew stronger," Zala told TOI.
The police then dug out the mobile phone locations of Nat and cross-verified it with the Google timeline in his phone. Nat had told police that he left the school at 5pm, but his phone location showed that he was in the school till 6.10pm. "Also, none of the children at the school had seen the girl get down from Nat's car. Those studying with her too said that she didn't attend the class that day. When we confronted Nat with all the evidence, he finally admitted to the crime," Zala added.
Nat told the police that after smothering the girl on the morning of Sep 19, he left her body in the car that was parked in the school premises. He then waited for the school hours. When everyone left at 5pm, he took out the girl's body and dumped it behind the school building. Nat, who lives with his wife and a married son, left the girl's bag and shoes outside her classroom. The child was taken to Limkheda hospital by her parents, but the doctors declared her dead.