A minor who had gone to Kanpur to prepare for her NEET medical entrance exam was allegedly raped and blackmailed for months by two well-known teachers from a popular coaching centre in the city. Police said one of the teachers was arrested a few months ago after CCTV footage of him allegedly sexually harassing another student was widely shared and this gave the survivor the courage to finally file a complaint.
Both teachers have been arrested.
A police official said the student had gone to Kanpur to prepare for the exam in 2022 and enrolled in a coaching centre there. In January this year, her biology teacher, Sahil Siddiqui, 32, invited her to a party at his house which he said was meant for all students. When the girl reached his flat, however, she realised that she was alone. She alleged that Siddiqui got her drunk, raped her and filmed the act.
The survivor told the police that Siddiqui threatened to make the video public and kill her family and raped her on several other occasions as well. He held her hostage at his flat for some time and then coerced her to attend parties there. It was during one such party that she was raped by her 39-year-old chemistry teacher, Vikas Porwal. The survivor was a minor at the time.
The student said she had gone home to meet her parents around Holi and Siddiqui had called her and asked her to come back, threatening to harm her family if she did not comply.
A video of Siddiqui allegedly sexually harassing another student went viral recently and he was released on bail. An official said this made the student overcome her fear of him and file a police complaint on Thursday.
A first information report (FIR) was registered on Friday and both Siddiqui and Porwal were arrested the same night.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Abhishek Pandey said, "The student told us she was raped by the accused on separate occasions. A case has been registered and the two men have been arrested and are being questioned. The student was a minor at the time and has requested us not to share too many details."
The two teachers were produced in court on Saturday.
(With inputs from Arun Agarwal)
