The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday barred the release of a controversial Telugu movie after it allegedly inspired a Warangal schoolteacher to elope with her student.
The ruling came on a public interest litigation alleging that the film High School, said to be woven around a
30-year-old teacher’s love affair with a 13-year-old schoolboy, could have a corrupting influence on students and vitiate the atmosphere in schools.
The petitioner, S. Chakrapani, president of the Warangal Town Consumer Council, also challenged the state censor board’s decision to clear the movie without considering its social impact.
The film’s plot has been in the news for some time. It is said to have encouraged a 21-year-old teacher and her 15-year-old student to elope and marry by exchanging garlands at a temple in Warangal on February 15.
B Nagesh, a student of C V Raman High School, told his parents of his marriage with his Hindi teacher D Ramyasri four days later.
The parents complained to the State Human Rights Commission.
Unlike the movie, their marriage was declared null and void.
“This act... on part of the teacher is not only immoral but also illegal,” commission chairperson Justice B Subashan Reddy said.