The police have launched a search for a schoolteacher who has reportedly gone into hiding after a group of students accused him of sexually abusing them.
The police registered a case against the Urdu teacher of a higher secondary school in Malappuram, under Section 9 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after 19 students of the school raised a complaint. The teacher had reportedly abused the girls during a National Service Scheme (NSS) programme held at the school three weeks ago.
The teacher had been in the forefront of a Pink Band campaign against child abuse conducted by the Childline in association with the school’s NSS unit last week.
Protest marches
Activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) had taken out a protest march to the school on Saturday, demanding action against the teacher.
Sharp criticism
Although the school has suspended the teacher, a leader of the Muslim Youth League (MYL), the soft stand taken by school principal K.G. Prasad evoked sharp criticism from various quarters. Childline authorities will visit the school campus on Monday and will offer counselling to the complainants. The police and Childline suspect that there were attempts from the school authorities to cover up the incident that had taken place three weeks ago.
The police said they booked the teacher for aggravated sexual assault under the POCSO Act.
If convicted, he will get minimum five years’ imprisonment.