In a disturbing incident, the head teacher of a co-educational school in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district has been arrested on charges of molesting 16 girl students. The victims alleged that the teacher used candies to bribe them into engaging in inappropriate acts. The matter surfaced when the girls filed a complaint on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) portal.
NCPCR member Preeti Bhardwaj Dalal conducted a probe, recording the survivors’ statements, and found the charges against the accused, Rajesh Kumar, to be credible. The accused teacher has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IPC molestation charges based on a complaint by the school cook, Ruby Devi.
The district’s basic education officer has suspended the accused, and a three-member team is conducting further investigations into the case. The absconding head teacher was subsequently arrested by the police.