BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court rejected the petition filed by a government school teacher, who sought quashing of charges against him of raping a guest teacher. Lingaraja Naik H, working now as in-charge headmaster, moved the HC seeking quashing of criminal proceedings against him based on a complaint filed by the guest teacher, who was his colleague in a school.
Justice M Nagaprasanna said the complainant joined the school as a guest teacher, while the petitioner was a permanent teacher. He threatened the complainant with her nude pictures and forced himself upon her on every occasion, which cannot be said to be consensual sex, he said.
Referring to the complaint and summary of the chargesheet, the court noted that Section 376(2)(b) contemplates punishment where a public servant commits rape of a woman in his custody or subordinate sphere. The petitioner, being a teacher in a government institution, and the complainant functioning under his administrative influence, prima facie bring the allegations within the ambit of this provision.
The court stated that Section 376(2)(f) of the IPC punishes a person who commits rape upon a teacher or a person who has authority towards a woman, Section 376(2)(n) punishes a person who commits rape repeatedly on the same woman, Section 427 punishes a person who barges into the house of the victim and commits an act of sexual assault, Section 366 attracts for kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel her to have illicit intercourse and Sections 504 and 506, which relate to intentional insult and criminal intimidation, threats to tarnish reputation and secure professional termination. All these allegations meet the ingredients of those offences.