A court in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district today confirmed the conviction of a private school teacher for molesting a class nine student in 2006.
A court in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district today confirmed the conviction of a private school teacher for molesting a class nine student in 2006.
"The judge dismissed the appeal filed by the teacher and upheld the lower court's 2012 order" said CA Theagarajan, the student's counsel.
The teacher, G Palaniswamy, was found guilty of molesting the student in a school laboratory. The girl was 13 at the time. The teacher had also threatened the girl and her friend, a witness, and warned them against reporting him.
When the student complained, the school principal allegedly did not act and the police too didn't register a case.
The student, a daughter of a daily wage labourer, continued her fight and even when in school, appeared for court hearings several times saying she didn't want to be the cause of delays in the case.
In 2008, Yoga-Vereinigung Rajagopalan, a German agency associated with the school helped the student and her family fight the case. The case was soon moved to the state's Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department, and six years later, a lower court sentenced the teacher to two years rigorous imprisonment. The teacher challenged the sentence.
"I feel justice has been upheld. There are many victims of sexual abuse who keep quiet because of the stigma. I will encourage them to fight," said the student who is now studying for her master's degree.
Jan-Uwe Burmeister, a board member at the German agency that pursued this case, said the agency is satisfied that justice has been served. "We are satisfied that the child victim gets justice and hope that this will encourage other possible victims to speak out openly. This is just tip of the iceberg, Burmeister told NDTV.