A government school teacher in Ferozepur’s Guru Har Sahai sub-division was arrested on Friday on charges of sexually harassing at least 13 girl students.
Ferozepur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said a case has been registered against teacher Raj Kumar Chugh under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 74, 79 (outraging woman’s modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment), along with Section 8 of the POCSO Act at the Guru Har Sahai police station.
“A probe was conducted by a deputy superintendent of police. The accused has been taken into custody and further investigation is underway,” SSP Sidhu said.
According to the police, parents of at least 13 girl students from various classes alleged that the accused teacher had been sexually harassing their daughters over the past 3–4 months. The matter came to light after one of the students dropped a complaint letter into the school’s suggestion box.
Acting on the letter, principal Karan Singh Dhaliwal promptly formed an internal committee of female staff members to look into the matter and submitted a preliminary report to the district education officer (DEO) Manila Arora. The DEO escalated the matter to the directorate of public instruction (DPI) in Chandigarh, which took immediate cognisance.
On Friday, Malkit Singh Thind, chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission, visited the school and held a closed-door meeting with parents. During the interaction, parents recounted how the harassment had continued for months while students remained silent out of fear. Some parents also alleged that a few staff members, including females were complicit and had allegedly pressured the victims to remain quiet. SSP Sidhu assured that all aspects of the case are being investigated thoroughly.
{{/usCountry}}On Friday, Malkit Singh Thind, chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission, visited the school and held a closed-door meeting with parents. During the interaction, parents recounted how the harassment had continued for months while students remained silent out of fear. Some parents also alleged that a few staff members, including females were complicit and had allegedly pressured the victims to remain quiet. SSP Sidhu assured that all aspects of the case are being investigated thoroughly.
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