The Delhi High Court on Monday cancelled bail granted by a trial court to a 57-year-old staff member of a private school in Delhi’s Janakpuri area who is accused of raping a three-year-old girl, noting that it had failed to take into consideration crucial aspects of the case.The police registered on 1 May a case under section 64 (rape of a minor) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 6 of the Pocso Act (Photo for representation)A vacation bench of Justice Vinod Kumar directed the staffer to surrender before the convened Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court by 2:00pm on July 1. The verdict was delivered on two appeals — filed by the Delhi Police and the victim’s mother — against the trial court’s May 7 order granting bail.In its 16-page judgment, the court observed that the accused was granted bail barely a week after his arrest on May 1, while “the investigation was in full swing and at a crucial stage”.“The impugned order has missed the crux of the issue and the issue is as to why a minor child of three years of age would make such a complaint and would not only identify the respondent as the offender but also point out the place of occurrence,” it said.The bench further observed that the trial court failed to consider a crucial aspect of the case: the school where the alleged incident occurred had only two male staff members among its ten employees. In these circumstances, the court said, the three-year-old victim was unlikely to have mistaken the alleged perpetrator’s identity.It also faulted the trial court for overlooking the victim’s tender age, observing that a child of barely three years cannot be expected to narrate events with the precision, sequence, and sense of time expected of an adult witness. “A child of such tender age may appear to be incoherent and sometimes even illogical but that does not mean that what a child is saying is incorrect.”The incident came to light on April 30, the second day after her admission to the school, when the three-year-old complained of pain after returning home. She then narrated the incident, where the accused allegedly took her to an isolated area inside the school and assaulted her.The police registered on 1 May a case under section 64 (rape of a minor) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 6 of the Pocso Act, following the complaint lodged by the child’s mother lodged a complaint at Janakpuri police station. It arrested the staffer the same day, and he was remanded in judicial custodyOn 7 May, he was granted bail with certain conditions and asked to furnish surety bonds of ₹20,000.A day later, the Delhi government issued a show-cause notice to the school management over the alleged rape, highlighting serious concerns regarding child safety, supervision, and compliance with statutory norms. The directorate of education (DoE) warned that failure to provide a satisfactory response could result in withdrawal of the school’s recognition and even a takeover of its management under the provisions of the Delhi School Education Act and Rules.Delhi Police, represented by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, then moved the high court challenging the trial court’s bail order, describing the case as “gross” and arguing that since the child identified the accused and the teacher in the test identification parade, the bail should clearly be cancelled.The staffer’s counsel, KK Manan, opposed the petition, contending that no such incident had occurred. He argued that the accused was not present at the alleged place of occurrence during the relevant time and submitted that the CCTV footage supported his claim of innocence.