Woman teacher held for sexually assaulting boy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 24

In a shocking incident, a 34-year-old woman government schoolteacher has been arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting a 15-year-old boy. After Childline, an NGO, received a call on Wednesday, it counselled the boy, who disclosed that the teacher had been sexually assaulting him since March. Identified as Raj Kamal, the accused is a science teacher at Government High School in Ram Darbar Colony here.

The incident came to light when the police received a call that a woman had consumed a full bottle of some liquid. Acting on what appeared to be a suicide attempt, the police reached the spot and took Raj Kamal to a hospital. However, it was found that the bottle contained just cough syrup.

As the police enquired about the sequence of events that led to the consumption of the syrup, they were informed that Raj Kamal had locked the victim in her house and was refusing to let him go. The parents, with the help of neighbours, had got hold of their son and before they could reach home, Raj Kamal entered their house and emptied the bottle that was lying in their washroom.

The police asked the parents to call Childline, which they did. Dr Sangeeta of Childline said, “The boy opened up to our counsellors about the sexual assaults that were being inflicted upon him since March and that is when the real story came to light.” On a complaint of the child, the police registered a case under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and arrested Raj Kamal. She was produced in a court on Thursday, which sent her to judicial custody.

The victim and the accused live in the same area and he had been going for tuitions since September 2017. The accused is married and has two daughters. Her husband is a lecturer in a government school.