A city court has convicted a teacher for sexually abusing four girl students, saying the Indian society has elevated a teacher as "Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheswara" and it is the duty of the teacher to take care of the pupils the way a parent cares for his or her children.
Special Judge Nazera Shaikh on February 14 sentenced the 35-year-old teacher, Charudatta Borole, to five years in jail for sexually assaulting the children aged between 10-11 years in their classroom and school premises.
"In our society, girl child education is still not completely supported by the family, and when such type of incident is committed, the parents get apprehensive in sending daughters to school," the court said.
Such incidents impact the opportunity of other girls to take education, it said, adding that the girls in the present case mustered the courage to report the offence.
The court said the Indian society has elevated the teacher as "Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheswara".
"As Brahma, the teacher creates knowledge, learning, wisdom and also creates out of his students, men and women, equipped with ability and knowledge, discipline and intellectualism to enable them to face the challenges of their lives. As Vishnu, the teacher is preserver of learning. As Maheswara, he destroys ignorance," it said.
"It is, therefore, the duty of the teacher to take such care of the pupils as a careful parent would take of its children," the court said in its judgment.
It added that Borole was the girls' teacher and hence he was their custodian when they were in school. He took undue advantage of his position, said the court.
As per the prosecution, Borole had molested the four girls, who at the time were in Class 5 and 6, on their school premises between November 2015 and March 2016. Borole used to teach them Maths and Science.
The court said the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Borole committed "sexual assault" by touching the students inappropriately.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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