Ex-schoolteacher arrested for failing to report sexual assault

Coimbatore: The west all-woman police on Monday arrested the former teacher of a private school for failing to report a sexual harassment complaint levelled against her husband, also a teacher, by a Class XII girl, who died by suicide in November 2021.
The arrested woman was identified as Archana, 32, wife of K Mithun Chakkaravarthi of Panaimarathur in Coimbatore city.
Archana was working as a teacher in a private school at RS Puram at the time of the incident, police said. “The 17-year-old victim’s phone was sent to the cyber laboratory in Chennai to retrieve audio files and other documents. We came to know that she had contacted Archana and informed her about sexual harassment meted out by her husband. We retrieved audio files and chat conversations, and arrested Archana for failing to report the sexual harassment,” a police officer said.
A team led by all-woman police inspector P Dheivamani arrested Archana under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. She was produced before the special court for Pocso Act cases, remanded in judicial custody and lodged in the special prison for women inside the Coimbatore Central Prison.
Mithun Chakkaravarthi used to take online classes during the lockdown and often interacted with the minor girl on WhatsApp. He sexually assaulted her when they met in March. The girl committed suicide in her house in November 2021. She had told her parents about the harassment meted out by the teacher.
The west all-woman police arrested Mithun Chakkaravarthi on November 12, 2021, and remanded him in judicial custody. School principal Meera Jackson was arrested after two days for failing to report the sexual assault. Police also arrested the victim’s neighbours Manojraj, 58 and Mohammed Sultan, 70, for sexually assaulting her when she was eight years old. All of them were later released on conditional bail.