A suspended teacher from the PSBB (Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan) School in Chennai has been sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually harassing female students on Tuesday. A fine of Rs 80,000 has also been imposed on him.
The teacher, who was suspended in 2021 following allegations from eight current and former students, was convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
In 2021, several students reported incidents of sexual harassment on social media, accusing the former teacher of sending lewd text messages, making sexually colored comments, and engaging in other forms of inappropriate behavior.
The school had denied prior knowledge of these complaints and claimed a zero-tolerance policy for such misconduct, following which the accused was suspended.
Nearly three years later, a Chennai court's verdict brought the issue back to light, with the court convicting the accused in all eight cases filed against him. The court sentenced him to two years in each case - for 16 years in total.
However, the Judge later on permitted him to undergo the sentence concurrently for two years.
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