Tamil Nadu: Govt School Teacher Held Under Pocso Act For Sexual Harassment Of Girl Students

The students said that Sridhar inappropriately touched them and engaged in other sexual advances. He also reportedly sent obscene messages to some of them through WhatsApp chats.

A girl (Image for representation)

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Chennai: A 45-year-old government school teacher was arrested by All Women Police in Thirumangalam for sexually assaulting girl students of his school on Wednesday. The school teacher was arrested after the survivors opened up about the sexual assault to one of their women teachers who then informed Child Welfare Committee members. 

According to a report on The Hindu, the accused was identified as R Sridhar, a chemistry teacher at a government school in Chennai. 

As per the students, Sridhar inappropriately touched and engaged in other sexual advances. He also sent obscene messages to a few girls through WhatsApp chats and contacted others through phone calls.

He also started to involve in such offenses in March and had always been threatening the girls to not disclose about his misbehavior.

However, the issue recently came to light after one of the students informed a woman teacher in the school. The teacher then informed Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member. 

After an inquiry, CWC members gave a complaint to All Women Police in Thirumangalam along with an audio file of the conversation and WhatsApp messages. 

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case under various sections of POCSO Act and Indian Penal Code including punishment for aggravated sexual assault and criminal intimidation. The police inquiry also revealed that that the teacher had sexually harassed students for the past three months.

Therefore, the police then arrested the teacher and remanded him in judicial custody.