Mussoorie boarding school teacher acquitted in Swiss student sexual assault case

Dehradun: A special Pocso court acquitted a Mussoorie boarding school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a Swiss Class 12 student in June 2022, holding that the prosecution failed to prove charges under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Pocso Act section 9D (aggravated sexual assault) beyond reasonable doubt. During the trial, the girl's local guardian, her aunt, told the court that the school contacted her after the student was caught smoking and informed her that they intended to terminate her.The court of the additional district judge (Pocso Act), after examining documentary evidence and witness testimonies, said the material placed on record did not substantiate the allegations to the degree required in a criminal trial and gave the benefit of doubt to the accused. The girl, then a Class 12 student at the school, made the allegations in June 2022, following which police arrested the teacher. He secured bail 14 days later while the investigation continued.
The student had enrolled at the school in Feb 2022 and stayed there until July 15, having come to Mussoorie to learn the Tibetan language and culture. Her birth certificate showed that she was three months short of turning 18 at the time of the alleged incident, which brought the matter under the Pocso Act.The girl's aunt told the court, "The school called me after she was caught smoking and said they would terminate her," and added, "After she returned to Switzerland, neither she nor her family kept any contact with me."Investigating officer sub-inspector Pinky Panwar told the court that she took the girl to record her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before a magistrate. Panwar said, "In her statement under Section 164 CrPC, she said she was afraid of being terminated and had lied, and that the teacher never ‘touched' her."The court observed that the girl was the best witness to the incident, but her testimony could not be recorded during the trial because she had left the country and did not return to depose. In the absence of her examination and on the basis of the evidence available, the court acquitted the teacher of all offences under IPC and Pocso Act.