PONDA: A 14-year-old minor girl was allegedly molested by her 53-year-old Physical Education (PE) teacher Vishwas Prabudesai, a resident of Marcaim, while she was answering an examination in a school in Ponda. Her trauma got worse as the school authorities instead of taking any action against the teacher against whom the victim complained, forced her and her sister to leave school, making the school complicity in covering up the purported criminal actions of the teacher.
There was further shock in store. Instead of the teacher getting booked arrested and removed from the school, the victim and her sister were compelled to leave school last month as they feared further harassment from the accused teacher.
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The incident purportedly occurred on March 25, when the victim was seated on the last bench in the classroom.
Terrified by the incident, the victim approached a lady teacher and narrated the ordeal. However, months passed and no action was initiated against the accused teacher. Fearing further harassment, on July 23, the victim approached the school headmaster with a complaint against the accused teacher.
This time too, the headmaster and the school management failed to take action against the accused and refused to file a police complaint. Following the inaction, the victim and her sister decided to quit school.
However, on Monday, mustering courage, the victim with the help of villagers marched to the Mardol Police Station and filed a police complaint against the accused teacher.
Vishwesh Naik, a local, said that the school management instead of filing a case against the accused has supported him by not initiating action against him. He demanded that the accused teacher be arrested immediately.
He said that the victim along with her sister, out of frustration and fear, quit the school. The locals have demanded justice for the victim, who underwent tremendous trauma following the shocking incident.
Naik said, “It has been months since the incident and what surprises us, is that the accused teacher continues to remain in service. The victim filed a police complaint on Monday. The government chants slogans of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’, but it is sadly not put into practice. The school management needs to conduct an impartial inquiry which is mandatory as per law. It has also come to light that the accused is a habitual offender.”
“The victim is like our sister and daughter, and we are ready to take out a morcha to the school and stage agitations to give justice to her,” Naik added.
The locals led by Naik, Premanand Naik and Shailesh Naik gathered in large numbers at Mardol Police Station along with relatives of the victim and also sought Union Minister Shripad Naik’s support in initiating immediate action against the accused teacher.
