A school van driver allegedly raped two five-year-old kindergarten students in Bihar while taking them home after attending the classes, and also recorded it on his phone.

The shocking incident occurred under the Birpur police station area in Begusarai district on Tuesday and came to light in the evening when the accused dropped the two little girls at their respective homes.

The girls’ parents noticed their bloodstained clothes and queried them about it. The two kids narrated the sordid details, including how the accused driver, identified as Sikandar Rai, 33, took them to a deserted place while returning from school and allegedly raped them.

“My daughter was crying when she alighted from the school van. I asked her what happened. She told me that ‘driver uncle’ did bad things to her,” the mother of a victim told reporters.

The parents of the other victim said that Rai also made a video of the sexual assault on the kids.

A couple of the members of the victims’ families searched for Rai after learning about the incident and apprehended him.

“We got information about alleged sexual crimes against two five-year-old schoolgirls by vehicle driver Sikandar Rai of St Xavier’s School, Parra, around 7pm on Tuesday. Birpur station house officer (SHO) Pallav and other officials reached the place within 20 minutes, questioned the members of the victims’ families and the local people and arrested the accused,” Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Yogendra Kumar said on Wednesday.

“We have registered an FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and are carrying out the investigation. A chargesheet will be filed soon and the case will be sent for speedy trial because of the serious nature of the offence,” Kumar added.

The two victims have been admitted to Begusarai Sadar Hospital for treatment. A medical examination of Rai has also been conducted.

Rai is married and has three children. He has been working with the school for the past three years.

The police added that the concerned school had not done the background verification of the accused before employing him.