Pune: A physical training (PT) teacher of a private aided school was arrested on Friday night on the charge of molesting a 12-year-old girl on the institution's premises over the past two years. The school principal and four other administrative officials of the institution's trust were arrested for re-appointing the PT teacher despite knowing that he was arrested in 2018 on the charge of molesting another minor girl in the same institution. The Nigdi police have two trust members as suspects in the case.
They are yet to be questioned or arrested. The girl's father (44) lodged a complaint with the police on Friday. Deputy commissioner of police Swapna Gore told TOI, "The teacher used to follow the girl when she visited the washroom for the past two years.
He touched her inappropriately repeatedly and issued threats of dire consequences to her. He communicated with the girl in inappropriate language and touched her inappropriately whenever she reported late to the school." The Nigdi police had conducted a workshop in the school earlier this week on good and bad touch.
After the workshop, the girl approached the police team and narrated how the PT teacher had molested her. "Our team discussed the issue with her parents, and her father lodged a complaint with the police," Gore said. After the incident came to light, the Pimpri Chinchwad commissioner of police (CP) Vinoy Kumar Choubey visited the Nigdi police station and reviewed the development in the case till late night against the backdrop of the recent Badlapur incident, in which two school girls were molested by a school peon.
"The PT teacher was earlier arrested in 2018 for molesting a minor girl student in the same school and subsequently, a city court had convicted him. He appealed against the conviction in the higher court. The matter is pending before the court," Gore said.
She said, "The school administration re-employed the PT teacher despite knowing about the previous incident and subsequent developments in the court. Now, he has molested a girl again. Thus, after arresting the teacher, we arrested the school administration's staffers in the case.
The school administration has shown gross negligence by re-employing the PT teacher.".
