The Coimbatore District Police have arrested a high school teacher on charges of sexually assaulting nine girl students.
The police said that S. Natarajan, 54, a secondary grade teacher from Annur, was arrested for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He had been booked in a POCSO case in 2020, said the police.
According to the police, the accused had been teaching Class VII and VIII students in a government high school near Sirumugai.
The police said that nine girl students complained to officials of the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), who conducted awareness sessions on child sexual abuse and child marriage in the school, about sexual assault by the teacher on various occasions.
Based on their statements, the District Child Protection Officer lodged a complaint with the Sirumugai police, demanding action against Natarajan, headmistress Jamuna, senior graduate teacher Shanmugavadivu, seventh standard class teacher Geetha and eighth standard class teacher Shyamala.
As per the statements of the students, they had complained about the sexual assault by Natarajan to class teachers Geetha and Shyamala. After being informed, the class teachers, the headmistress and Shanmugavadivu conducted an inquiry. However, none of them reported the incidents to the police, DCPU or other authorities even after two months, said the police.
The Sirumugai police registered a case against the accused for offences under Sections 7 (sexual assault) read with 8 (punishment for sexual assault), 9 (f) (whoever being on the management or staff of an educational institution or religious institution, commits sexual assault on a child in that institution), 9 (m) (whoever commits sexual assault on a child below twelve years) read with 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) and 21 (2) (any person, being in-charge of any company or an institution who fails to report the commission of an offence under sub-section (1) of section 19 in respect of a subordinate under his control) of POCSO Act on Tuesday.
Natarajan was arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday. Summons were served on the remaining accused.
