Chandigarh ‘sexual harassment’ case: Govt schoolteachers seek amendment in POCSO Act

A teacher at a government school in the city was arrested last week for allegedly sexually abusing a Class-7 student for over a month.

: Hundreds of government school teachers in the UT on Wednesday assembled at the Masjid Ground in Sector 20 and expressed resentment over the arrest of a teacher last week.

Teachers protesting at Sector 20 in Chandigarh on Wednesday. They expressed anger over the decision to arrest a teacher accused of sexually harassing a Class-7 student without conducting an inquiry into a complaint lodged under the POCSO Act. (Keshav Singh/Hindustan Times)

A teacher at a government school in the city was arrested last week for allegedly sexually abusing a Class-7 student for over a month.

The teachers expressed anger over the decision to arrest the teacher without conducting an inquiry into a complaint lodged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They also signed a memorandum addressed to the UT adviser to administrator for conducting a free and fair inquiry into the incident and submit the report within a week to the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR), court or both.

Teachers prepared a memorandum for sending it to the home minister, law minister, Union government, Law Commission of India and MPs and seek amendment to Section 19 of the POCSO Act and add a one-step ahead mechanism to discuss the complaint before any committee is formed under any Act which gives appropriate chance of hearing to both parties so that any undue harassment to accused may be checked.

They were in the favour of the Act but said amendment to any Act would give better implementation and provide a conducive environment to implement the Act.