Pune school teacher arrested for molesting students

PUNE: Police have arrested a 54-year-old teacher of a Zilla Parishad school in Maharashtra's Pune district for allegedly molesting girl students, an official said on Tuesday. Pune Zilla Parishad's (ZP) Chief Executive Office Ayush Prasad said the teacher has been suspended and a police complaint filed against him. As per the information given by police, the accused used to allegedly touch Class 7 girl students inappropriately and subjected them to sexual harassment.

"The girls informed about it to their parents following which the crime came to light. We have registered a case against the teacher and he has been arrested," an official from Pargaon police station said. The teacher has been booked under Indian Penal Code Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

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Prasad said the ZP has issued a notification of fresh directives to curb sexual abuse incidents and asked for the installation of CCTV cameras in all schools. Headmasters and other stakeholders have been asked to undertake awareness programmes in schools, he said, adding that schools have also been asked to form 'Sakhi-Savitri' committees to ensure the safety of children.

The directives also include character verification of all teachers and non-teaching staff every five years, he said. If the verification report is negative, the person should be reprimanded or given punishment and the higher office concerned should be informed, the notification said. "The Pune ZP has trained 74,000 people during a drive to create awareness against sexual abuse, Prasad said.

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"We formed village level committees for prevention of domestic violence and child sex abuse. These measures have resulted in greater awareness and also in social support to report such crimes. We have taken very strict action in each case after due preliminary verification. We are also working to strengthen preventive measures in every government and private school," the official said.