UP teacher molests 13 girl students in school

A computer instructor was arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district for allegedly sexually exploiting 13 minor girl students in a government school.

A 38-year-old computer instructor was arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting 13 minor girl students in a government school in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district, police said on Monday.

All the survivors are in the age group of 12 to 14 years, said police. (AFP)

The accused, Mohammad Ali, the school’s head teacher and in-charge Anil Kumar and assistant teacher Sajia, who goes by one name, were booked under Sections 354 (whoever assaults or uses criminal force for any woman, intending to outrage modesty), 352 (whoever assaults or uses criminal force against any person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both), 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code, and under various provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, said S Anand, superintendent of police, Shahjahanpur.

“Main accused Mohammad Ali was arrested on Sunday and sent to jail,” the SP added. “Two other teachers of the school, Anil Kumar and Sajia, have been suspended on charges of concealing the incident and not taking any action despite being aware of the incident,” he added.

All the survivors are in the age group of 12 to 14 years, said police. Accused Ali has been exploiting students for the past three to four days, said a police official familiar with the matter. Ali used to teach students of Class 6 to 8.

The incident came to light when students told their parents about Ali’s actions on May 12, said the district police chief. The next day, local village chief Lalta Prasad lodged a first information report (FIR), alleging that Mohammad Ali was sexually exploiting girls, and Sajia and Kumar knew about it but did not take any action.HT has seen the FIR. The same day, family members and villagers reached the school and thrashed the instructor, said one of the local villagers. One of the survivor’s father said, “The girls who went through this horrible incident are reluctant to come to the school anytime soon. They are scared and it will take some time for them to overcome the trauma.”

Another survivor’s father said, “The incident has shattered the confidence of our girls. They will always feel that even school is not a safe place for them.”

Kumar Gaurav, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), of Shahjahanpur said prima facie, the computer instructor was found guilty and his services will be terminated. The computer instructor is a contractual post designated by the state education department

“Parents of several girls have alleged that the computer instructor, Mohammed Ali, sexually assaulted around 13 students of the school. The police have registered a case and action has been initiated,” he added. “The department has initiated the process to terminate the contract of computer teacher, Mohammed Ali, whose appointment is on contractual basis.”

Director-general (school education), Vijay Kiran Anand, was apprised about the incident, he added.

In a related development, after the sexual assault allegations in the government school came to the fore, the attendance dropped below 35%, people familiar with the matter said.

Confirming the development, BSA Kumar Gaurav said, “Of the 112 students, including 50 girls, only 35% of the students turned up on Monday. This is obviously because both parents and students, particularly girls, are scared to come to the school after what happened with those 13 girls.”

He added, “The department will hold counselling session for the students and parents. Unless we are able to rebuild confidence among them, the turnout won’t improve. We will have to sensitise our teachers also. Strong action will be taken against the guilty.”

Reacting to the incident, Uttar Pradesh minister Baldev Singh Aulakh said action will be taken against accused. “Whoever has done such a thing, action will be taken against him. If teachers are involved in such cases, they will be thrown out of the school,” he said while speaking to news agency ANI.