The Chennai Police arrested a teacher from a reputed school in the city after he was accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour.
According to a report by The Hindu, the teacher was booked under various sections of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The incident took place at Padma Sheshadri Bala Bhavan School in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai. Allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour in online classes surfaced in social media against a teacher of a reputed CBSE school here, prompting authorities to swing into action on Monday.
The school has reportedly placed him under suspension. The allegations from numerous posts indicated that the accountancy teacher had been targeting girls in classes 11 and 12 for quite some time and even ahead of the start of the first wave of the coronavirus last year and that the management, despite, complaints did not take action.
Use of words that amounted to verbal sexual harassment of girls in physical classes, touching them inappropriately and later claiming that it was 'by accident' formed part of the accusations.
Sending lewd messages through phone, inviting students to 'cinema' or to make late night video calls and appearing with just a towel around the waist in online classes were also alleged.
The school alumni have demanded appropriate action in the matter and the management assured the parents and students of "necessary steps to address the situation in a free, fair and transparent manner."
Earlier, the school management had responded to the allegations saying it has "zero tolerance" against behaviour that harms the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of its students.
