Teacher Arrested On Charge Of Sexual Harassment Of Student in Gorubathan

Students staging demonstration, Photo:: Lenin Rai

KalimNews, Kalimpong 7 March 2022 : A 41-year-old teacher in a government aided higher secondary school in Gorubathan in Kalimpong district, was arrested yesterday, after the father of the girl, a resident of a nearby tea garden [Name, address, identity of the victim and the parents are undisclosed as per section 23 of POCSO Act 2012 and section 74 under Chapter IX of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015.] filed a complaint against the teacher in the Gorubathan police station. 

The police stated that the teacher is arrested after receiving the complaint and will be produced in the court today. Meanwhile, the Students of Higher secondary section of the school along with residents of the area staged protest and Chakka jam at Dharmasala More near Sombaray Bazar demanding action against the accused.  

Police officials pacifying the demonstrators. Photo:: Lenin Rai

The girl student appearing in Higher Secondary Examination this year in April stated her distress to her parents that her physics teacher behaved inappropriately with her and use to send her sexually implicated texts repeatedly in WhatsApp. The mental torture and harassment she was facing was also shared among her friends which prompted a wave of outrage and the students staged the demonstration. A crowd of locals also gathered at the Police station and Dharmasala more to protest against the harassment incident.

Following an inquiry by the school authorities and the police who questioned the complainant as well as other students, Andrew Sherpa was taken into custody. He has been charged under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However the students demanded that he be handed over to them for garlanding him with shoes and to make him apologise in front of the students, which was denied by the police.

The School Headmaster declared to the gathered crowd that the accused teacher is suspended by the school authorities and is no more in the school service, officials said.

The teacher allegedly misbehaved with the girl, from the time she was attending a coaching class arranged by the school for the HS examination. He has tormenting her mentally with the texts that has disturbed the victim girl who could not concentrate on her preparation for the examination, alleged the complaint letter. To lift the Chakka jam, the officials of Gorubathan police repeatedly requested the students but they disagreed to their assurances, later in the night the strike was lifted.