POCSO case in Villupuram: School teacher still at large

VILLUPURAM: Villupuram-based Dalit rights organisation — Social Awareness Society for Youth (SASY) — on Friday demanded the arrest of a government school teacher who was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for allegedly abusing minor girls at a government-aided primary school in Nannantapalayam.

The 41-year-old teacher, who was booked on April 22 for allegedly sexually abusing six Class 4 girl students on the school campus, is still at large.

Sources from one of the girls’ family in Nannantapalayam said, “The girls had been reporting to their families of uncomfortable incidents happened at the school, and said the teacher had sexually molested them for over a year.”

Speaking to TNIE, two of the girls said similar of the incidents. “The teacher used to touch us in a wrong and uncomfortable way. We had shown our mothers a few wounds we had from the abuse. We were not ok with his touch, and resisted it, but he threatened us and said he would complain of us to our parents. So, we kept quiet all this while,” they said.

R Lalitha, a member of SASY, however, alleged that the inspector who dealt with the case had instructed the children that they had misunderstood ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’. She added that since the girls are from a Scheduled Caste community, the FIR must be filed under the SC/ST POA Act as well.

Reacting to the case, Villupuram Superintendent of Police N Sreenatha told TNIE, “Statements from three of the victims are corroborated negatively to the allegations. Similarly, other teachers from the school also negate the incident. Further probe is on, after which action will be taken.”