Teacher groped me, alleges Lakhimpur girl

A girl student of a central government run co-educational school in Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, has accused a male teacher of running his hands all over her body from waist to leg and even touching her private parts. The school principal said an inquiry had been ordered.

After the girl registered the complaint, more girls from the same school have approached the police, claiming that the teacher used to touch them inappropriately. 

In a letter to the principal, the victim girl alleged this incident took place on April 17. “As the teacher was not teaching anything, I was drawing something on a sheet of paper,” she wrote in her complaint penned in Hindi. 

“As the teacher saw me drawing, I tried to hide the sheet under the bench. The teacher put his hand under the bench. He groped my private parts, running his hand all over my body from waist to leg,” she said. 

Her letter reads, “I was scared and started crying. Other girls came forward to console me. The teacher said to one of the girls who was sympathising with me, “Tum bahut netagiri mat dikhao” (do not try to act like a leader). And thereafter he left the classroom.” 

When contacted, the principal said she had ordered a probe. “Both accused teacher and victim girl were in the school on Friday,” the principal confirmed. “ I too am a woman and I will never compromise with the safety and security of my students, specially girls. I have reported the matter to higher authorities for action,” she said.

Circle officer of Mithali, Pradeep Singh said no such incident had been reported to the police so far. He said appropriate action would be taken if school authorities approached police with a complaint.

The school is a fully residential, co-educational institution affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi and is governed by an autonomous body under the Department of Education and Literacy, Ministry of HRD, Government of India. 

The incident has again exposed the vulnerability of school kids. In February 2018, a private school teacher in Manpada, Dombivli, was booked after a Class six student filed a molestation complaint against him.

In February 2018 , a dance teacher of a prominent girl’s school in West Bengal’s capital Kolkata was arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually harassing a Class 2 student for six months, police said. The accused was charged under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with the police.