VILLUPURAM: Righteous anger of a mob would have ended in a killing if not for the intervention of the police, near Chinna Salem on Monday. A teacher, who reportedly proposed to a Class VIII girl on Valentine’s Day, was thrashed by a mob, comprising the girl’s relatives and local residents. The teacher, who gave the girl a card and roses, had enlisted two other teachers to help convince the 13-year-old to marry him.
The incident happened at St Antony’s High School, a government-aided institution, at Melnariyappanur village. On February 14, the teacher, Nirmal, a married man in his thirties, proposed to the girl with a card and roses. The two other teachers, Lawrence and John Francis, told her Nirmal was “rich enough to handle any problems that may ensue,” sources said. The three teachers have been arrested.
According to the girl, the teachers said Nirmal would give her a life of untold luxury if she accepted the proposal. But she rejected it, and shied away from creating an issue as it involved her teachers. She didn’t tell her parents out of fear that they would discontinue her studies. However, she confided in a few friends, some of whom were related to her. By Monday, the entire village knew about the incident.