Hey Dipy: There is so much of school violence here that you don't hear of in India. In my opinion, it is very regrettable and must be avoided at all costs. What do you say for that. Is that nice? Or You think the level of violence in schools in India is the same as in America and it is not reported? Common man, answer this question.
3 Queens Students Charged in Sexual Attack at School
By VIVIAN S. TOY
search.nytimes.com
hree students at Bayside High School in Queens were charged
Wednesday in the beating and sexual assault of a girl who the
police said was beaten into unconsciousness and sodomized on Tuesday
in a basement bathroom.
The suspects all made written and videotaped statements admitting the
attack, which occurred about 4 P.M. Tuesday, the police said.
The victim, a 16-year-old sophomore whose name has not been
released, was found bound and beaten in a bathroom near a boys' locker
room.
She was treated at Long Island Jewish Hospital and released
Wednesday morning.
The three Queens students arrested in the attack -- Leon Elkech, of
Hollis; Parrish Jones, of East Elmhurst, and John Mendoza, of Flushing,
all 18-year-old sophomores -- were charged with kidnapping, assault,
sexual abuse and sodomy. None had a criminal record, the police said.
The girl had told the police that she had been on her way to a third-floor
lab when someone hit her from behind, and that she passed out and
woke up in the locker room.
The police revised that account Wednesday.
An investigator said that the girl had gone to the lab that afternoon to
make up a missed class but was too late. She then met the three students,
at least one of whom was an acquaintance but not a friend, he said.
After talking briefly, the investigator said, the girl told them that she
wanted to go home. The three offered to walk her to a bus stop and
went downstairs with her, the investigator said. Instead of going outside,
they led her to the basement bathroom where she was punched in the
face, her wrists were bound with rope, and she was choked with a belt
and sodomized, the investigator said.
She was left unconscious, he said.
Deputy Chief Patrick Timlin, the commander of Queens detectives, said:
"This was a brutal assault. She is a pure victim."
The girl was found about 4:30 P.M. when another student heard noises
from the bathroom and alerted a custodian. The bathroom area was
deserted, but it opens into a boys' locker room that is connected to a
pool where a swimming meet was being held at the time of the attack,
the police said.
The three suspects were awaiting arraignment last night. A man who
answered the door at Jones's home refused to comment, as did a woman
who answered the door at Elkech's home.
Students at the school said Wednesday they were shocked by the
incident and somewhat alarmed by the extra police and safety officers
assigned to the school Wednesday.
"A lot of girls are afraid to be walking around in the school now," said
Vickie Morales, 16, a junior from College Point, Queens.
"I know I didn't want to be in there today."
Jacqueline Bahamundi, 16, a junior from Douglaston, Queens, said the
added security made her feel more at ease, but added: "They'll do this for
a couple of weeks, but then they'll leave and then what's going to
happen? I like this school, but I don't feel safe anymore."
Students said the principal, Harris Sarney, told students about the
incident over the loudspeaker early in the school day and told students
that counselors would be available to speak to them.
"He sounded very stressed," said John Nadal, 18, a senior from
Woodhaven, Queens. "He gave us the basic information about what
happened, and he seemed like he was trying to give everybody
assurances that things would be O.K. But today it was like we were all
locked in school."
Many of the exits that students usually use were locked Wednesday and
security officers closely monitored people entering and leaving, as well as
students walking in the hallways. Students said they were repeatedly
asked to show their student identification.
Bayside High School is one of the few high schools in the city that does
not have metal detectors.
Students and parents said violence was rare, and students were not often
found carrying weapons.
"This incident is just a horror, and very alien in this community," said
Frank Skala, president of the Bayside High School New Alumni
Association and the president of the East Bayside Homeowners
Association. "The kinds of problems we usually see are graffiti and kids
hanging out on people's cars, quality of life problems that in other places,
people would call it paradise." |
