Belagavi: Villagers thrash teacher for posting photos with ex-student

BELAGAVI: Over 100 parents and villagers stormed a government school in Belagavi district and thrashed a 44-year-old teacher on Thursday morning for allegedly posting photos of him with a former student as his WhatsApp status in his bid to scuttle her wedding scheduled to be held next week.
Police identified the accused as Mahesh Shivalingappa Biradar, who was working as a physical-education teacher at the government high school in Yakkundi village of Savadatti taluk in the district.A police officer said Biradar had been harassing and stalking the girl for almost six years.
The girl, now 20 and in final-year BCom in a college in the district, has filed a complaint with police, who have booked a case against Biradar under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and IT Act of 2000. The girl's wedding is fixed for June 13.
When villagers noticed Biradar's WA status early Thursday, they rushed to the school and took him to task. Some of them kicked and punched him, while a few others hurled footwear at him. Later, they handed him over to the police. He was later arrested .
According to police, Biradar became friendly with the girl when she was his student in high school and he started making overtures in a bid to marry her. Sources claimed that the teacher had taken pictures with the student and was blackmailing her with those. Biradar, who is married, is from Bairwad village in Vijayapura district.