Madras HC Overturns Special Court Order, Sentences Teacher To 20 Years Imprisonment For Sexually Assaulting Minor

Earlier, a special court took up the case for hearing but found the accused not guilty of the charges.

A school girl was sexually assaulted by a teacher (Image for representation)

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside the verdict of a special court to award 20 years of rigorous imprisonment to a teacher for sexually harassing a four-year-old UKG student in Puducherry. The teacher sexually assaulted the student of a private school on March 27, 2018. 

According to a report on the New Indian Express, the case against the teacher Earlam Periera came up for hearing before Justice P Velumurugan on Tuesday where the judge observed that the evidence was sufficient to prove the sexual assault and set aside the trial court's order.

Further, Madras High Court awarded two counts of rigorous imprisonment under Sections 5 (f) and (m) of the Protection of Children Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The Court awarded rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and Rs 10,000 fine and another 10 years and Rs 10,000 under Section 5 (f) and Section 5 (m) of POCSO Act, the report said. If the accused is unable to pay the fine then the Court said that he can serve the prison term of another two years.

On March 27, 2018,  a 4-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by a teacher of her school and based on the complaint of her mother the police registered a case under Sections 6 and 10 of POCSO Act and 506 (ii) of IPC. 

Following this, the special court took up the case for hearing but found the accused not guilty of the charges. The court then acquitted the teacher on October 6, 2020. However, the police appealed once again to the Madras HC and the public prosecutor said that the special judge erroneously acquitted the respondent and did not take the evidence since the four-year-old cannot be expected to speak about the incident.