Govt. school headmistress, husband held on charges of sexual assault on student

The Coimbatore rural police on Wednesday arrested the headmistress of a Government middle school near Pollachi and her husband after a girl student accused the latter of sexually assaulting her on the school premises in March this year.

Headmistress Ayyammal (55) and her husband Thangavelu (56), a retired employee of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, were arrested and remanded on Wednesday.

The headmistress was arrested as she was allegedly aware of the sexual assault, which took place before the lockdown, and warned the girl against disclosing it to anyone, said the police.

According to the police, the girl did not show interest in attending the online classes and wanted to get admitted to another school.

As the girl repeatedly demanded for a change of school, the parents called on the headmistress to seek a transfer certificate. However, she told them that the shifting was unwanted.

As the girl continued to insist on a change of school, the parents asked her for the reason and she disclosed to them the ordeal she had been through.

She told her parents that Thangavelu, who used to spend time at the school when he comes to drop and pick his wife, sexually assaulted her in an isolated place on the school premises in March, said the police.

Though the girl reported the incident to the headmistress, she scolded her and threatened her into not disclosing it to anyone, the police said.

Based on the girl’s disclosure, the parents lodged a complaint with the All Women Police Station, Pollachi, which led to the arrest of the headmistress and her husband under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.