Uttarakhand: 50-year-old teacher held for molesting nine-year-old student

A primary school teacher, aged 50, was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor student in Bhimtal town of Nainital district in Uttarakhand, police said on Wednesday December 4.

According to police, the incident took place on Tuesday, December 3, in a government primary school in a village on the pretext of extra classes .

“The accused named Ravi Choudhary had been a teacher in the school since 2016. He had been molesting the child for the past few months, however on Tuesday December 3, the parents of the child confronted him in school, that’s when the incident came to light,” said the probing senior sub-inspector JS Sandhu. Sandhu also added that the accused tried to settle the matter when the parents questioned but the parents refused refused.

“After the police was informed about the matter, the police reached the school a and the parents of the child narrated the incident and Choudhary was arrested,” said Sandhu.“In the initial investigations, it was found that he molested two children, including the victim,” Sandhu said.

Police has also confirmed that two other pupils saw Choudhary molesting the students. The girl who made the accusations also informed that the teacher used to take pictures of the act with his mobile phone and threatened them against informing their family members about it.

“However, no photographs were found in his mobile phone when checked. The other child hasn't yet come forward and lodged a case against him, the case was registered on the complaint of one girl who informed about the incident,” Sandhu said.

However it's worth noting that said the girl had previously complained to the school’s headmaster about the accused but she did not take any action.

“We came to know about the incident only after complaint was registered and are not aware of the fact that whether or not the headmaster knew about the incident, the headmaster refused to comment on the incident,” said Gopal Swaroop, the district education officer (elementary education).

“If she was aware of the teacher’s actions, she could have at least informed us but she didn’t. An investigation would be conducted against her as well and strict actions would be taken against her if she is found guilty,” he said.

The police during their investigations also found that Choudhary had previously molested girls in a government school where he taught before which were never reported.

“He had molested some girls there also but had managed to settle the matter without any police complaint against him. He was then transferred to this school 2 years ago but started committing the same crime again. Investigations are on,” said Sandhu.