TN teacher held for sexual assault on student who died by suicide

The TN police have also booked the school principal under the Pocso Act for allegedly not acting on the student’s complaint.

The Tamil Nadu police on Saturday arrested a 31-year-old teacher of a prominent school in Coimbatore for allegedly sexually assaulting a Class 12 student, who died by suicide on Thursday, officials familiar with the matter said.

Teacher of a prominent school in TN has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a Class 12 student, who died by suicide on Thursday.

The police have also booked the school principal under the Pocso Act for allegedly not acting on the student’s complaint. Police said the 17-year-old also named two other people, including the main accused’s wife — a teacher at the same school— in her suicide note.

“The sexual assault happened between March and May this year. Two months later, the victim shared her ordeal with one of her friends and they informed the principal. The wife of the accused also knew about the alleged assault,” Coimbatore police commissioner Deepak Damor said.

According to police, the accused Mithun Chakraborthy asked the student to come to school when classes were being held online on the pretext of conducting special classes and assaulted her within the institute’s premises. The victim’s mother told the police that they shifted her to a different school in September after she repeatedly asked them to do so, officials said. The teenager, however, did not specify why she wanted to be moved to a different school, the police quoted her mother as saying.

The accused also resigned from the school in September but continued to harass the girl, police said. A case has been registered against Chakravarthy under IPC Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

Chief minister MK Stalin expressed grief over the student’s death and promised stringent action against the culprits. He said the act of “some human beasts” has taken away a life.

“Schools should ensure sexual assaults do not happen. (we) will arrest the culprits and bring them before the law... will ensure the safety of women,” he said in a tweet