Elite school teacher of Agartala sentenced to 5 years jail for molesting Class IX student

Agartala: A special court has sentenced a teacher of an elite school in Agartala to rigorous imprisonment for five years for outraging the modesty of a Class IX student at his residence in August 2019.

The court on Monday also slapped a fine of Rs 15,000 on the accused teacher Haripada Vim under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused, an English teacher of Netaji Subhas Vidyaniketan, had been giving private tuition illegally beyond school hours. And, the victim was one of the students in his coaching class.

According to Special Public Prosecutor, Pradip Sutradhar, the victim had gone to Vim's house to attend class in the morning on the day of the incident.

While she was climbing the staircase on the first floor, the accused grabbed her inappropriately and molested her. But she was warned not to disclose the incident to anybody, otherwise; it would harm her exam result.

For a week the victim remained silent, but in an off-mode, which was noticed by her mother.

Following the persuasion of her parents, she divulged the incident and an FIR was registered against the accused teacher on Aug 26 in 2019.

After recording the deposition of six witnesses based on the investigation, the court found Haripada guilty of sexually abusing the minor girl under section 354 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 10 of the POCSO Act.

The accused has been sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 15,000. He would have to undergo an additional two months of imprisonment in case of a default on payment. (UNI)