'Rape by tutor gives profession a bad name'

Awarding a 10-year sentence to a teacher for raping his minor student, a Delhi court has said that the act “brought a bad name to the institution of learning”
and slammed the society for virtual insensitivity towards women.

Crime against women generally and rape in particular was on the increase and, ironically, society appeared to be unconcerned, showing little or no concern for honour of women, the court said.

Additional sessions judge Vijay Kumar Dahiya said convicted tutor Hari Shankar Kumar had “shattered the belief of the society in the sanctity of the noble profession of teaching”.

“I am convinced that convict deserves no mercy and any leniency shown to the convict would be highly misplaced and the convict is hereby sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and fine to the tune of Rs 20,000,” the judge said on Friday.

The penalty would be paid to the 12-year Class 6 victim as compensation. Terming the July 2011 rape as a “stigma on the face of the institution of teaching”, the court said that in Indian culture a teacher “is always held in high esteem and so much reverence is given to this noble profession that if a person is standing before god and his teacher he will first pay obeisance to the latter”.

“The dastardly act committed by the accused has brought bad name to the institution of learning and the accused has shattered the belief of the society in the sanctity of the noble profession of teaching. So the accused does not deserves any leniency,” the court said.

The prosecution said the victim used to take home tuition from the convict.  On the day of the incident, he raped her at her home after bolting her room’s door from inside. He also threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone.

“The accused was a tutor of the prosecutrix (girl) and he ravished her, and this act of the accused is a stigma on the face of the institution of teaching,” the court said.

The court noted that the offence of rape is “barbaric in nature where the victim is ravished like an animal for the fulfillment of desire and lust of another man”.

“Sexual violence degrades and humiliates the victim and it leaves behind a traumatic experience,” the court said.

“A rapist not only causes physical injuries but more indelibly leaves a scar on the most cherished possession of a woman that is her dignity, honour, reputation and, not the least, her chastity.”