Teacher gets 5 years in jail for sexually assaulting student

Court says music teacher committed a ‘highly derogatory’ offence that did not call for leniency

A 68-year-old music teacher has been sentenced by a Delhi court to five years in jail for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old student.

The court, while handing down the sentence, also observed that the teacher had committed a “highly derogatory” offence which did not call for leniency. Additional Sessions Judge Amit Kumar also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on the north Delhi resident, Bernard Samuel.

“The offence is highly derogatory. It stands proved that the convict, who was working as a music teacher in the school, committed sexual assault upon a minor girl and as such, no ground for leniency is made out,” the court said.

It also asked the Delhi State Legal Service Authority to give ₹5,000 as compensation to the child victim.

“The concept of welfare and well being of children is basic for any civilised society and this has a direct bearing on the state of health and well being of the entire community, its growth and development,” the court said.

According to the complaint filed by the father of the child in April 2014, he was informed by the girl that the teacher had sexually assaulted her a few months before. The complaint further alleged that despite informing the school about the incident, they failed to take action.

The counsel for the school, however, stated that the principal had referred the complaint to the management with endorsement of dismissal.