Mumbai: A DNA test report has found that a teacher accused of raping and impregnating a 13-year-old student of MGM School, Nerul was not responsible for her pregnancy.
Police, however, said the DNA report wouldn’t be presented as the main evidence in the case against the accused, Harishankar Awadh Shukla. Senior PI Ashok Rajput, Nerul police Station, said, “The victim has claimed she was raped twice in April and August 2016. The victim claimed the accused had covered his face with a handkerchief but she recognised him as Shukla when he assaulted her again in April. He might get a clean chit in the August incident, but will find it difficult in the other incident.”
The police have filed a charge sheet in the case attaching the DNA report. When the victim was found to be pregnant, her parents had registered her under a false surname at the hospital. When hospital authorities informed the police about a minor being pregnant, the changed name made it difficult to trace the victim. “Even though the surname was wrong, the phone number and age were correct. Using these, we found the victim from the school records and a case was registered,” Mr. Rajput said. Shukla was arrested on December 14, 2016 from New Delhi, nearly two-and-a-half months after the case was registered. The incident had led to protests by parents at MGM School.
The police said they have the statements of four students and a teacher, recorded before the magistrate, in which they claimed Shukla made girls in the school uncomfortable. “As per their statement, the teacher would resort to vulgar talk and make the girls feel uncomfortable,” Mr. Rajput said.
Meanwhile, Shukla’s wife Anjali, a homemaker and a mother of two children, claimed her husband is innocent. “On October 7, 2016, I received a copy of the FIR. On October 10, I wrote to the police that my husband is ready for a DNA test to prove his innocence, but there was no further communication from their side. I am yet to get the copy of the charge sheet. Once I get it, I will proceed to apply for his bail. I believe in the judiciary and that an innocent person won’t be punished. If the victim claims rape in April, why did she not complain then? How did she attend school regularly and also sat for my husband’s class? I don’t know why my husband is being made a scapegoat,” she said.
