A group of parents and locals on Wednesday thrashed, stripped and paraded a tuition teacher in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, accusing him of misbehaving with girl students, an official said. The matter came to light after a 13-year-old girl refused to go to his tuition classes. When her parents sought to know the reason, she told them about the alleged misconduct by the tuition teacher.
The survivor is in the seventh standard and lives with her parents, while the accused runs tutorial classes for students in Std. VII to Std. X at Virar. A police officer said, “Two weeks ago, after class ended, the teacher asked the victim to stay behind to give her some notes. Once other students had left, he called her to his cabin, locked the door, and touched her inappropriately. He also demanded sexual favours from her.”
“The victim managed to escape and did not inform anyone at that time. However, the next day, she attended the class again, and after it ended, the accused asked her to stay behind once more. He again molested her in his cabin, touched her inappropriately, and threatened her to engage in a sexual relationship. The victim managed to escape again,” the officer added. The parents of the girl and other citizens then beat up the teacher, stripped and paraded him after pulling him out of his classes in Virar. They also accused him of misbehaving with other girl students, the official said. Senior Inspector Vijay Pawar of Virar police station told reporters that the teacher has been handed over to the police and they are recording statements. Police will register an FIR against the tuition teacher, he added.