“He came closer to me and hugged me and said ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay’…I didn’t understand what he meant…he strongly tried to touch my breast…he hugged me again

A French student visiting India on a school exchange programme has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the father of the host Indian student.

The incident happened on October 18 in Delhi. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed a week later based on the 16-year-old’s complaint.

The French teenager in her statement said that her host student’s father, 55, sexually assaulted her when she was alone in the room. She was living with the family in their apartment in Saket.

“While I was packing my bags for Jaipur, her father came to the room and was giving me general advice… I was sitting on the bed and packing…and he was standing in front and staring at me,” the girl said in her complaint.

“He came closer to me and hugged me and said ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay’…I didn’t understand what he meant…he strongly tried to touch my breast…he hugged me again…in an uncomfortable manner,” she said further.

“He took my hand forcefully to bring it between his legs…I was completely under trauma and shocked,” she said in her complaint to the police.

The girl revealed the incident to her friends in the bus on her way to Jaipur. The teacher informed the French embassy. The student has been shifted with another host family.

The host Indian student had visited France in June as part of a similar programme. She had stayed with the French teenager’s house. On October 13, when the French student arrived in Delhi, she was assigned to stay with the same student’s family.

Based on the girl’s complaint, a case was registered on October 23 at Neb Sarai Police Station under IPC section 354 (molestation) and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (sexual assault).

According to the girl’s complaint, an Indian student had stayed with her in France during the previous exchange programme in May-June. On October 13, when the French girl came to India, she was assigned to stay with the same student whose parents received her at the airport, the complaint said.

On the day of the alleged incident, the girl stated that she was packing her bags alone for her trip to another city. The complaint said that at 8pm, the Indian girl’s father came to the room, and advised about what to pack and asked to keep her passport. This was when the host first touched her inappropriately, she stated.

The girl stated that she returned to packing her bags and “hoped” that the accused would leave the room. But the alleged assault happened after that, the complaint said.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/french-teen-says-sexually-assaulted-by-delhi-host-files-police-complaint-5422614/