Death after rape slur

TT, Gangtok, Aug. 6: A government schoolteacher was found hanging in a friend’s house in East Sikkim yesterday evening, few hours after a Class XI girl lodged a police complaint accusing him of raping her in her house.

Bhim Raj Subba, 23, a resident of West Sikkim, used to teach Limbo language to students of Classes VI to XII in the school in South District.

He had taken two-days’ leave from the school from Monday and went to his friend’s house on Monday.

Police said the Class XI girl had lodged the complaint on Tuesday afternoon alleging that Subba had raped her on Sunday night.

The girl, who is from Kalimpong, took admission to the school this year and stays in a rented house close to Subba’s.

“After the complaint was lodged, we heard the teacher committed suicide. We cannot say if the teacher committed suicide after he learnt about the police complaint. We are trying to find out why the girl did not file the complaint on Monday itself,” said a police officer from the South District.

The police had registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) against Subba.

The teacher had been working in the school under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan for around three years.

The girl’s medical tests reports are not out yet.

“A case of suicide has been registered at a police station in East Sikkim and the police are investigating the matter,” said the spokesperson of the police department, M.S. Tuli.

Molest charge

A high school science teacher from Malda fled his house with his family members after two girls alleged that they were molested by him during tuition classes on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, around 7.30pm, the students of Classes VII and IX, went to Biswamoy Pal’s house for tuition.

Pal was alone in the house. His wife had gone to the market with their four-year-old daughter.

The girls later told the police that Pal, 37, was intoxicated.

“The Class IX girl said the teacher caught hold of her as soon as she entered the room and then lunged for the other. The girls started crying for help and local people rushed to the teacher’s house. When the girls narrated the incident to them, the neighbours thrashed the teacher. He was rescued and taken in the house by his wife who had returned by that time,” a police source said.

Later, the girls’ parents lodged a police complaint.

Malda police superintendent Prasun Banerjee said: “We will submit a report to the district magistrate. Preliminary investigation has proved that the two girls had been molested by the teacher. The police went to the teacher’s house and found it locked. We are conducting raids to arrest him.”