A teacher has been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing 24 girl students at a government school in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, police sources said on Monday. The arrest came after the students of classes VIII to X complained to the school principal about the harassment. The school authorities informed the police.
The 24 girl students of the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Rajgarh, Sirmaur district, have accused their mathematics teacher of sexual harassment. In a written complaint submitted to the school Principal Kanta Devi, the aggrieved students have accused the teacher of touching them inappropriately. The complaint was then forwarded to the school’s anti-sexual harassment committee, the school authorities said.
On Saturday, the students’ parents were called for a meeting, and it was found that most of them were unaware of the harassment faced by their children. The affected girls had not told their parents about the trauma and harassment they had been undergoing at the hands of the accused teacher due to “fear and hesitation”.
The agitated parents demanded the teacher’s dismissal from the school so that no student would have to suffer under him in the future. The parents also accused the school management of trying to play down the issue and not acting on time. However, the Principal provided a clarification stating that the management was not aware of when the teacher had been harassing girls. “There has been no complaint against the teacher in the past. But when the girls submitted a written complaint, we took immediate action,” the Principal reported.
The teacher has been arrested. A case has been registered against him under Section 75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police sources said.