TV sting shows schoolteacher in ‘porn racket’

Angry parents storm into a Delhi school and thrash a lady teacher accused of forcing students into prostitution, reports Ravi Bajpai.

Hundreds of angry parents and protesters on Thursday forced their way into a girls’ school in central Delhi and thrashed a lady teacher accused by a TV channel of forcing students into prostitution. The protesters damaged vehicles and clashed with the police. Over 22 people, including policemen, were injured.

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Police said nobody had filed a complaint against the teacher but that they had registered a case against her for immoral trafficking. It was not immediately possible to verify the television channel’s claims.

Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said, “The FIR has been registered solely on the basis of the sting operation since no complainant has turned up yet. Investigations are on.”

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Khurana had been suspended and a probe ordered. The teacher is currently being treated at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The police said the protesters entered the school in the morning hours and pulled out Khurana from the staff room and started beating her. The police reached the school around 11.30 am and locked her in the adjacent room for some time, before taking her to the hospital.

“The protesters ripped off her clothes and thrashed her badly,” said a senior police officer. There were about 600 students and 25 teachers inside the school at the time. The protesters stoned a Blueline bus and set a police gypsy ablaze in front of the Delhi Stock Exchange building. The area was sealed off for about five hours. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the mob.