School teacher held for molesting children

A teacher of an aided school has been arrested here for allegedly molesting his students during coaching classes, police said on Sunday.

Saji (45), an ex-serviceman and also a local Congress leader, was caught on Saturday following a complaint from Childline stating he would touch children inappropriately, the police said.

He was charged under various sections of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

"The Childline authorities informed us about the abuse. We went to Saji's house but he ran into an adjacent house belonging to his uncle. We picked him up there," a senior police official told PTI.

"As of now, we have two complaints against him. The girls stated that he used to touch them inappropriately while taking tuition," the official said.

In another incident, a barbershop owner near the same aided school was arrested for showing children pornographic videos on his mobile phone, the police official said.

"The locals complained that the boys of the school used to flock the barbershop. When we enquired, we found out that he would show porn videos to the children," he said. The shop owner was also arrested and remanded to judicial custody.