42-year-old coaching teacher in Mumbai held for molesting teen student for a year

He would inappropriately touch her chest, stomach and waist. At the time, she was 15 years old.he didn’t tell her family because she was afraid of being expelled from the class before her exams. Also, she didn’t want her father to lose the money he’d paid as fees.

A 42-year-old teacher of a coaching class was arrested on January 2 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by Malad police after a former student revealed he had molested and sexually harassed her for a year, when she was 15 years old. The teenager, who is 17 now, came forward when she realised her younger sister may be sent to the same coaching class.

The teacher would invariably send her to the back, saying she was academically weak and needed extra attention.Then, under the pretext of teaching her, he would inappropriately touch her (HT FIle)

A first information report (FIR) was filed against the 42-year-old on January 1 under section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act. A police officer from Malad police station said, “We have arrested the accused. He has been sent to judicial custody by the court.” The accused was arrested on January 2.

According to the police, the complainant had joined the classes that the accused ran in Malad (West) in May 2016 to prepare for her secondary school certificate (SSC) exams. During class, she used to sit either on the first or second row, but the teacher would invariably send her to the back, saying she was academically weak and needed extra attention.

Then, under the pretext of teaching her, he would inappropriately touch her chest, stomach and waist. At the time, she was 15 years old. This continued regularly during the year that the girl attended the coaching class. She didn’t tell her family because she was afraid of being expelled from the class before her exams. Also, she didn’t want her father, who owns a shop in Malad, to lose the money he’d paid as fees.

After clearing her SSC exams in March 2017, the girl left the classes with the alleged harasser, hoping to put the traumatic incident behind her. However, at the end of December 2018, she overheard her parents talking and realised they wanted to send their younger daughter to the classes run by the teacher who had allegedly harassed the older girl. Now 17, the teenager objected strongly, which perplexed her parents. When her mother pressed her to explain, the girl broke down and recounted how the teacher had allegedly harassed her.

Her parents then took her to the police station to file a complaint against the teacher and the FIR was registered on January 1.