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Pune ZP teacher arrested for molesting students
As per the information given by police, the accused used to allegedly touch Class 7 girl students inappropriately and subjected them to sexual harassment
After the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) issued directives about sexual abuse last week, yet another teacher was arrested for molesting students. The Pune rural police on Tuesday arrested a 40-year-old Zilla Parishad (ZP) teacher from Pune district for molesting students of Class 7 in June, said officials.
The Pune rural police on Monday registered a First Information Report (FIR) invoking various sections against the accused from Ambegaon tehsil following the complaint from head master.
As per the information given by police, the accused used to allegedly touch Class 7 girl students inappropriately and subjected them to sexual harassment.
In one incident, the teacher forced himself on a 13-year-old student, while she was sitting a bench. During a good touch and bad touch programme in the school, she realised that teacher had molested her, and then approached her parents.
The parents complained to the headmaster on August 24 and a block development officer (BDO) formed committee to investigate matter further. During the investigation, committee spoke with 18 students in Class 7 and found that 13 of them were victims of molestation by the teacher.
Assistant police Inspector Lahu Thate said, ‘‘As of now, based on the complaint, we have arrested teacher and further investigation is underway. In addition to that, we are also verifying that whether any more girls were molested by the teacher.”
The teacher has been booked under Indian Penal Code Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.
“We received the complaint yesterday and immediately ordered a preliminary inquiry. Upon receiving the report, we have suspended the accused teacher. Complaint has also been filed with the Pune Rural Police and the accused teacher has been arrested,” said Ayush Prasad, Chief Executive Officer, Pune ZP.
Earlier last week, Zilla Parishad issued directives to curb sexual abuse incidents and asked for the installation of CCTV cameras in all schools.
Headmasters and other stakeholders have been asked to undertake awareness programmes in schools, he said, adding that schools have also been asked to form ‘Sakhi-Savitri’ committees to ensure the safety of children, said Prasad.
The directives also include character verification of all teachers and non-teaching staff every five years, he said. If the verification report is negative, the person should be reprimanded or given punishment and the higher office concerned should be informed, the notification said.
