Mumbai: Teacher gets 3-year jail for sexually assaulting student

Refusing leniency, a sessions court in Goregaon has sentenced a teacher to three years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a six-year-old student at her home in 2013.

Additional Sessions Judge AZ Khan found the suspect guilty of sexual harassment under section 354-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a provision of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

Pleading that he has old parents and a wife to look after, the man had sought leniency from the court. However, the court stated that he is not entitled to a lenient view as he committed the offence with a minor.

In 2013, the teacher inquired with two of his female students, both sisters, whether their mother was at home and after knowing that she was away, he visited their house. He asked the elder sister to wash his handkerchief and compelled the minor to sit on his lap.

At the same time, the minors’ mother entered the house and saw her younger daughter sitting on the lap of the teacher. Seeing the victim’s mother coming inside, the teacher left their home.

The minor narrated the ordeal to her mother and a complaint was lodged against the teacher. The suspect was sentenced under section 342 of the IPC for wrongfully confining the children.

The man had been in jail since September 2013 after his arrest to April 2014, when he secured bail. According to the order, the period he was in custody would be deducted from his sentence.