PT teacher gets 5-year jail for sexually abusing 5-year-old student

As per the prosecution, in March 2017, the accused inappropriately touched the girl in school. Later in March 2017, the girl informed her paternal aunt about the incident. The family lodged a complaint with Oshiwara police station on March 22, 2017

Mumbai A special POCSO court on Saturday sentenced a 27-year-old physical training (PT) teacher to five years imprisonment for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl in an Andheri school.

Minor Rape. (File Photo: IANS) (IANS)

As per the prosecution, in March 2017, the accused inappropriately touched her in the school. Later in March 2017, the girl informed her paternal aunt about the incident. The family later took it up with the school administration and sought action against the teacher. When the family realised that the school had yet not taken any action, they lodged a complaint with Oshiwara police station on March 22, 2017.

The accused had contended that he had scolded the child as she was causing a lot of disturbance in the class and denied having touched the child inappropriately.

A witness had, however, stated in the deposition that the PT teacher had caught the child and touched her inappropriately. The child herself, however, did not remember much of the actual incident when she was asked about it in the court.

The defence argued that as the victim did not even remember the place where the incident had occurred or the fact of whether she had shouted when the accused misbehaved with her, her failure to immediately react and not create a hue and cry, was not enough to show that no such incident had occurred.

The court rejected the defence and held the teacher guilty of the offence.

“No doubt that PW-2 (the survivor) was not able to say as to when exactly had the incident took place i.e. as to whether it had taken place during the PT period or after it; when she was questioned about it in her cross examination. It will, however, have to be kept in mind that the victim was a child of five years of age at the time of the incident and was examined in the Court after 5 years i.e. in June 2022. Hence, she may have forgotten as to whether the said incident had taken place during or after the PT period, for which some allowance will have to be made, as a child cannot be expected to remember the minute details regarding an incident five years after its occurrence,” said the court.