JOIN USParents clash with police after teacher molests kids
Half a dozen girl students at a government school in north-west Delhi’s Jahangirpuri have been allegedly molested by their music teacher over the past few days, police said on Tuesday.
The accused was arrested after family members of the alleged victims and hundreds of locals staged a violent protest outside the school on Tuesday.
Apart from the music teacher, 23 protesters were also arrested for rioting. Several policemen were injured and some police vehicles were damaged in the protest that involved heavy stone-pelting.
The parents of the victims said that four youths who do not belong to the school were also involved in molesting the girls on the premises. Senior police officers said they are still verifying this particular allegation and will take action after investigation. The girls, aged between 14 and 15, were often allegedly sexually harassed while taking music lessons.
“It appears the parents of the girls got to know about the incidents on separate days and they happened to discuss it among themselves, after which they approached the school principal with their complaint at 10 am on Tuesday,” a senior police officer said.
It is alleged that the principal did not take their complaint seriously and instead, asked them not to approach police and even told them to vacate the school premises. The principal also did not allow the parents to meet the accused teacher, which left them angry.
The parents then came out from the principal’s office at 11 am and staged a demonstration outside the school building. They were soon joined by hundreds of locals, who started pelting stones.
Police were forced to deploy forces in and around the school building. The accused teacher was rescued from the school building by police and taken to Mahindra Park police station, where he was booked for molestation and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Crime Act.
The music teacher, identified as 38-year-old Vijay Kumar, is a resident of Sonepat in Haryana and was employed at the girls’ school in the area. The market surrounding the school was shut down as a result of the protest and the school was closed for the day. Police managed to end the stir by 1 pm.
The other arrested people include five women, who have been booked for rioting and obstructing police from performing their duty. The injured policemen, including two of them who are said to have suffered serious injuries, have been admitted to hospital.