Pvt school teacher convicted of sexually harassing children

Chennai: A special court for cases under Pocso Act on Tuesday convicted a former teacher of a private school in the city for sexually harassing minor girl students and sentenced him to two years rigorous imprisonment."The accused is found guilty of the charge under section 12 of the Pocso Act (eight counts) and sentenced to imprisonment for two years with a fine of 80,000," special judge M Rajalakshmi said. In default of paying the fine, he shall undergo eight months of simple imprisonment, she added.According to the prosecution, the Ashok Nagar all-woman police registered a case against the PSBB teacher under sections 354(A) (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of BNS, sections 67 and 67-A of IT Act, and sections 12 (sexual harassment) of Pocso Act, read with 11(i), (ii), (iii), and (iv).On May 25, 2021, police arrested the former teacher and remanded him in judicial custody. The sexual harassment came to light during an online discussion on incidents of discrimination faced by students. Soon, many students started to share their experiences, which were shared on social media by model and alumna of the school, M Kripali. Students alleged that a teacher in the school attended an online class wearing only a towel. A student shared a screenshot alleging that he asked her whether she was free to go out for a movie with him.