PARENTS of a 15-year-old girl have reported a school official to police for allegedly trying to force her to strip naked and sexually assault her. They are now demanding an investigation into how the former senior official at the Pakistan School was allowed to leave the country before his case reached court. He is now in Pakistan after reportedly being bailed out of police custody by the school.

However, he has denied the allegations and claims he resigned from his post because of school "politics".

Sources have confirmed that a complaint was made against the official at the Isa Town Police Station earlier this month.

The girl's father, who works for the Interior Ministry, said his daughter had accused the official of inviting her into his office, touching her and telling her to strip naked.

"She started shouting and ran out towards the administration office with just her shirt on," the father told the GDN.

"Having no response from the staff, she called me and I arrived immediately at the scene. She explained everything to me. I called the police and the official was taken into custody the same time."

The incident happened on September 11 and the official was held in police custody for two days, according to her father.

However, the father is now accusing the school of a cover-up and said his daughter had since been expelled by the school, which claimed she had been caught kissing her boyfriend in the classroom.

"Everyone said to forget about it as this would spoil the school's reputation and my daughter's name," said the father.

"But I took a stand against it as it happened to my daughter.

"I want this man to be punished in front of everyone else so that it will be a lesson to others.

"I don't understand why he had to do this. Young girls are like his daughters and are going to school with high hopes of getting an education and better career."

He claimed the official had a reputation for approaching female students and giving them his mobile phone number.

"He gave his mobile number and asked the girls to call at night," he said.

"He also asked them to come and see him in parks and restaurants without sa ying a word to the family.

"Most of the girls went out to see him by saying they were going for tution or to a friend's house.

"Girls aged 15 to 20, terrified of being expelled or failing in class, didn't inform their parents about him."

A teacher at the school has also accused the official, who cannot be named for legal reasons, of making indecent approaches to female staff.

"He was not having good relations with any of the female staff," said the female teacher, speaking on condition of anonymity. "A total of five qualified female teachers resigned from their positions because of his indecent acts."

Community leader Zafar Ullah Khan said the official had previously faced problems in three other countries.

"This man had a bad reputation and was deported from Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan on 24-hour notice because of the same behaviour," he said.

"I don't know why higher authorities selected him as he could only teach students to be corrupt and nothing else.

"This was not the first case against him, but one of many - many young girls were threatened by him not to inform their parents."

However, the official has denied all allegations and told the GDN that he was the victim of a witchhunt.

"I resigned from the school because there are so many political parties indirectly involved with the school," he said from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

"There is no value for good and decent people.

"All the allegations against me are false and the parents are just making it up because one of the female teachers caught the girl doing indecent acts with her male classmates."

Pakistan Embassy officials confirmed the matter was being investigated, but declined to comment further.

aneeqa@gdn.com.bh