Malkangiri: Two days after a video of an assistant teacher in an upper primary school in this district being thrashed by his wife for misbehaving with and molesting girl students went viral on social media, police arrested him on the charge Monday.
The accused was identified as Manjit Baina, an assistant teacher in MV-71 Project UP School under Kalimela block in this district. He was arrested after the mother of one of the victims lodged a complaint against him in the police station, MV -79 police IIC Jagdish Bara said.
Baina’s involvement was out in the open after a video showing his wife repeatedly thrashing him during a meeting of the school managing committee went viral Saturday. A case was registered under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and POCSO Act and the accused was produced in court, Bara added.
Baina’s misconduct came to light after the villagers lodged a complaint with the Cluster Resources Centre Coordinator (CRCC) and the Block Education Officer (BEO) accusing him of misbehaving and molesting the girl students in the school.
He was accused of regularly misbehaving with and molesting the girl students by calling them to separate rooms and later threatening them to fail them in examinations if they disclose the matter to others.
Finally, he was nailed by a Class-VI and three Class-VIII girls who met the headmistress Mahamaya Das and lodged a complaint with her.
The villagers later lodged a complaint with the BEO Gangadhar Patnaik following which a meeting of the school managing committee was convened Saturday to discuss the issue.
The meeting was also attended by the members of Palli Mangal Samiti and villagers.
At the meeting, Baina first denied the charges levelled against him but later owned up his wrongdoing. Incensed, his wife who was present repeatedly thrashed him in front of everybody.
Someone at the meeting recorded the ‘instant punishment’ on his mobile phone and posted the video on social media. The education officials also framed draft charges against another teacher after he too was found involved in molestation of girls. PNN
