Rape of Class VII girl: Bombay HC refuses to enhance school teacher’s sentence

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice A S Gadkari refused to enhance the sentence sought by the state of a male class teacher and the headmistress of a primary school for raping a Class VII girl. (Source: File Photo)

The Bombay High Court recently held that “ghastly and heinous” crimes, such as rape, when they take place in villages, have a serious impact on the minds of villagers and also place question marks on the future of minor victims in view of the socio-economical backwardness of the areas.

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice A S Gadkari refused to enhance the sentence sought by the state of a male class teacher and the headmistress of a primary school for raping a Class VII girl and abetting the crime, respectively. A sessions court in Raigad, Alibaug, had convicted the class teacher and the headmistress under rape and abetment charges, along with charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and sentenced them to 10 years in prison.

According to the statement of the victim to the trial court, in December 2012, the headmistress called he girl to a room next to her office. When the girl went in, the headmistress locked up the room from the outside. The class teacher then removed her clothes, took photographs of her and raped her. He also threatened her against speaking to anyone about the incident. Later, the headmistress opened the door and the girl was allowed to go home. She informed her mother about the incident but got no support to file an FIR. On January 22, 2013, the girl went to a police station and filed a complaint.

The bench observed that after considering the evidence, it was found that the evidence of the student is “consistent, reliable and trustworthy”. She specifically said that the class teacher committed the crime and the headmistress abetted it, the bench noted.

The court also considered the statement of a witness, who said that when the class teacher’s mobile phone was checked, it was found that it had as many as 15 obscene photographs of girl students.

The court said: “The accused No. 1 (the class teacher) being in the profession of a teacher of the school, was having no reason to have such photographs in his mobile phone.”

The bench added that the trial court has awarded “appropriate” sentence and “no case is made out for enhancement” of sentence.