A special POCSO court in Ahmedabad has sentenced a school-rickshaw driver to five years of rigorous imprisonment for molesting five minor girls who travelled in his vehicle to and from school in the Vastral area. The court also imposed a fine and rejected leniency, stating that the accused had violated the trust placed in him by the children and their families.
Special POCSO judge Heena Nihar Desai convicted 55-year-old Rajkumar Abhimanyu Balaramsingh Rajput in the case. Rajput operated a school rickshaw that transported students of Shanti Asiatic School. According to the prosecution case reported by Nav Gujarat Samay, he allegedly stopped the vehicle at isolated locations while the children were travelling to or from school and molested them on the pretext of offering chocolates.
The prosecution also alleged that Rajput showed the children obscene videos on his mobile phone and threatened them with harm to their parents if they disclosed what had happened. The children involved were between six and 12 years old.
The parents of the affected children filed a complaint with Ramol police on November 27, 2025. Police registered a case and arrested Rajput. During the trial, government prosecutor Dilipsinh Thakor relied on witness statements and documentary evidence to establish the prosecution case.
The five minor survivors gave their statements during in-camera proceedings. The court was told that their accounts of the alleged acts remained consistent. In-camera proceedings are used in cases involving children and sexual offences to protect the identity and privacy of survivors during the legal process.
While delivering the conviction, the court observed that Rajput was old enough to be the children’s grandfather but had breached their trust. The court said that such serious offences required firm punishment to set an example and deter similar conduct, according to the report.
The case highlights the responsibility attached to private school-transport services, where drivers and operators often have direct access to children outside the immediate supervision of parents and school staff. In this matter, the vehicle was being used to carry young students between their homes and school, and the alleged offences took place during those journeys.
The conviction followed the police investigation, the prosecution’s presentation of evidence and the children’s statements before the court. The sentence recorded by the special POCSO court is five years of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine.
