"Wasn't Aware Until...": Principal Of School Where 6 Students Were Harassed

Following the arrest of a teacher for the alleged harassment of students in Akola, the Principal of the school, Ravindra Samdur on Wednesday said that they were not aware of the incident until the teachers met the students after a programme of the school was over.

He said that four to five girls said they were harassed. The development comes just days after Badlapur sexual abuse case.

"There was a program in the school yesterday...After the program was over the teacher went to meet the students of class 7-8. Some 4-5 girls said that they were harassed, then we came to know about this, until then we were not aware of any such thing," the Principal of the school said.

Earlier today the police said that a school teacher was arrested in Maharashtra's Akola district on charges of harassment following complaints from six school girls.

The incident came to light after schoolgirls filed a complaint about the teacher who has been identified as Pramod Manohar Sardar. Police have recorded the statements of the victim girls.

The accused was arrested on Tuesday evening.

Superintendent of Police Akolka Bachchan Singh told ANI, "Akola Police received a complaint of molestation of six school girls by Pramod Manohar Sardar, a teacher of the Zilla Parishad School in Kajikhed. Police immediately arrested the accused teacher and recorded the statements of the victim girls."

"Cases under sections 74 and 75 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and POCSO Act were registered," SP Singh added.

Further investigation into the case is underway, he said.

The incident comes amid nationwide protests over the murder and alleged sexual assault of a female trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal City of Kolkata on August 9.

In a similar incident but at Maharashtra's Badlapur, two minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted at a school, sparking violent protests and subsequent reported police action on the protesters who had gathered on the streets demanding justice for the victims.

Maharashtra Police has arrested more than 40 people and registered an FIR against 300 people following the massive protest over the incident that led to stone-pelting, disruption of train services and lathi- -charges on Tuesday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)