TIRUCHY: In yet another case of sexual assault of a student in a Tamil Nadu school, a government school Tamil teacher was arrested on Wednesday for sexually assaulting a Class VIII girl student in Ariyalur district. The Headmistress of the school also landed in police custody for trying to cover up the incident and threatening the survivor.
The accused were identified as Arul Selvan (32), Tamil teacher, and Rajeshwari (50), headmistress. Natives of Ariyalur district, both work at the government high school in Kattupiringiyam. According to the police, the sexual assault happened around 3 pm on Tuesday afternoon when the Tamil teacher allegedly misbehaved with the girl on the school premises. The girl later informed her parents about it. The parents and some of their relatives rushed to the school and raised the issue with the teachers there.
Subsequently, an inquiry was conducted by authorities at the school on Tuesday evening. But, no major action was taken.
With the Tamil teacher arriving at school on Wednesday, an argument broke out on the campus. Members of the parents-teachers association were also there. Following this, the police officials led by DSP Madan and Inspector Mahalakshmi arrived at the campus and conducted an inquiry.
Police officials added that the school headmistress attempted to cover up the whole issue by threatening the victim not to reveal anything.
Arul Selvan was booked under Section 7 (Sexual Assault) and Section 8 (Punishment for Sexual Assault) of the POCSO Act. The HM, Rajeshwari was booked under Section 21 (Punishment for failure to report or record a case) of the POCSO Act.
Speaking to TNIE, K Feroz Khan Abdullah said, "Further inquiry is underway to know whether the teacher was involved in similar crimes earlier on the campus."
It may be recalled that in a recent case, the teacher of a school in Coimbatore was arrested after a former student of the school died by suicide unable to bear the trauma she underwent after being raped by him.
In Karur, a class XII student killed herself following sexual assault.
Recently, the headmaster of a government school in Erode district was suspended for allegedly failing to take action against a teacher after a few class XII students lodged sexual harassment complaints.