A guard of Tutpara Model Government Primary School in Khulna city was arrested yesterday for allegedly raping three first graders a week ago.

Bachchu Hawlader, 35, from Mathbaria of Pirojpur, confessed to the crime, said police. He raped two on December 4 and a third a few days earlier, said Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Khulna Sadar Police Station.

The three are orphans and live in Government Shishu Sadan, a shelter home.

The father of a class IV student, who witnessed the assault, had complained to the authorities but the school president, Masud Mahamud, did not take any action, the father said. Talking to The Daily Star, acting headmaster Sanjoy Sana said the president could not take action because he was out of Khulna city at that time. Aggrieved guardians demonstrated on the school campus yesterday, leading to the guard's arrest.

The president declined phone calls from this correspondent.