Zila Parishad school teacher arrested for molesting Class 3, 4 students in Maharashtra’s Bhandara

Bhandara: A 54-year-old teacher of a Zilla Parishad (ZP)-run school has been arrested for allegedly molesting girl students of Classes 3 and 4 on multiple occasions in Bhandara district of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

According to police, the molestation incidents took place between July 2025 and March 7, 2026, at the government-run school in Pauni taluka of the district. They said the accused teacher, who was arrested on March 10, used to inappropriately touch girl students of Classes 3 and 4, misbehave with them and also show the minors obscene videos on his mobile phone.

On March 9, one of the victims informed about the teacher's misbehaviour to a female cook of the school. Subsequently, the cook contacted her parents, who then filed a police complaint against the teacher. Later, four more students came forward and spoke about the teacher's misdeeds. Pauni police station in-charge Nilesh Brahmane said the accused was arrested the next day and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

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On Wednesday, the teacher was produced in a local court, which remanded him to police custody for three days. Zilla Parishad schools are state-run institutes managed by a rural local government body (ZP). Meanwhile, the Bhandara ZP Chief Executive Officer has issued orders suspending the teacher and constituting a committee to inquiry into allegations against him.