Teacher, seven others held for sexual harassment of 12-year-old girl in Pune

Based on a complaint lodged by the girl’s parents at Nigdi police station, the police arrested the accused on Friday

A teacher of physical education and seven others have been arrested in connection with the sexual harassment of a 12-year-old girl student at a private school in Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune, police said on Saturday.

The teacher was previously jailed on charges of molestation, but the school reinstated him after his release, the official said. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Based on a complaint lodged by the girl’s parents at Nigdi police station, the police arrested the accused on Friday.

The teacher was previously jailed on charges of molestation, but the school reinstated him after his release, the official said.

According to the complaint, the teacher had been allegedly sexually harassing the girl for the last two years, he said.

“The accused allegedly touched the girl inappropriately during the PE classes and would wait for her outside the women’s washroom. He also threatened her on multiple occasions,” he said.

The survivor had informed her parents after the Nigdi police had conducted a workshop at the school on good and bad touch earlier this week.

The accused have been booked under Sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force with intent to outrage a woman’s modesty), 78 (stalking), 79 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult a woman’s modesty), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The official said the other arrested were the school’s principal, trustees and board members.