COIMBATORE: The principal of a Coimbatore private school was held by the special team police from Bengaluru after being booked under section 21 (2) of (Punishment for failure to report or record a case) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after the death of one of the ex-students by suicide.
Meera Jackson was absconding since Friday and was located by tracing her mobile phone tower location. The special team police rushed to Bangaluru on Saturday night and held her. She would be brought to AWPS station at RS Puram in the afternoon and will be sent to remand in the evening, said police. The family of the deceased accepted the victim's body after this.
The school principal was booked on charges of not reporting to police the sexual assault on the girl by a teacher in the school premises.
Earlier the school physics teacher K Mithun Chakravarthy (31) was booked under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 9 (l) (whoever commits sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly) and Section 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the POCSO Act and arrested on Friday.
The 16 -year-old school girl died by suicide at her house on Thursday evening over mental agony of being sexually assaulted by the teacher in March during special class. As there was no action taken against the suspect even after she raised a complaint against him, the principal allegedly tried to protect him. Following that, she moved out of the school last September and joined another institution.
Meanwhile, the family members disagreed to receive her body demanding the arrest of the principal on Saturday. Following the arrest, they agreed to get the body from CMCH, said sources.