Three govt schoolteachers held for sexual assault on student in Tamil Nadu
The accused were arrested on a complaint from the survivor’s mother
Updated – February 06, 2025 08:29 am IST – Chennai
The alleged sexual assault happened in a toilet on the school premises.
| Photo Credit: N. Bashkaran
Three government schoolteachers were arrested in connection with a sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl on the school campus at Bargur in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri on Tuesday (February 4, 2025) night.
The alleged crime reportedly came to light only when teachers visited the girl’s home on Monday to investigate her prolonged absence from school.
According to the School Education Department, the accused teachers — of the panchayat union middle school — were named in the complaint lodged by the school headmistress and the block education officer. A. Muniraj, Chief Education Officer (in-charge), citing the accounts of school authorities, told The Hindu that since the girl stopped coming to school in January, some of the teachers paid a visit to her house to find out the reason. The girl told them that she suffered from ulcers, and would return [to the school]. “Again, on Monday, the school authorities visited the girl. That was when she spoke of the alleged sexual assault by three teachers in a toilet on the campus in the first week of January…”
Mr. Muniraj further said that in the preliminary internal inquiry, following the allegation, no other student or teacher had any complaint against the accused teachers. “The teachers denied the charge. The three teachers have been suspended…” he added.
Superintendent of Police P. Thangadurai told The Hindu that the police received a complaint from the school headmistress. Along with the Child Welfare Committee, the police visited the girl at her home. She was later taken to a One-Stop Centre (that supports women affected by violence) in the Krishangiri government medical college hospital. “The incident [sexual assault] is said to have happened between January 1 and 3,” Mr. Thangadurai added.
The accused were arrested on a complaint from the survivor’s mother. As of Wednesday evening, they were being remanded, the SP added.
An inquiry team of the District Child Protection Unit visited the girl and her family. A report will be submitted to the Collector.
When contacted, District Child Protection Officer Saravanan said he was in a meeting with the Collector, and would revert.
District ChildLine Officer Prasanna Kumari said the ChildLine did not receive any distress call pertaining to the incident.
Even as the First Information Report was registered, an irate crowd of villagers staged a road blockade outside the school demanding action against the accused. This case comes within months of a sexual assault at a private school in Bargur during a fake NCC camp came to light.
Leaders flay crime
In a social media post, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami expressed shock over the sexual assault, and said: “When I flagged the lack of safety for students in government schools and colleges, DMK Ministers said I was causing panic. What are they going to say now?…” He came down heavily on the government for failing to prevent such crimes.
AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran said the sexual assault on schoolgirls at Manamadurai in Sivaganga district and Pochampalli in Krishnagiri district, and on a woman near Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus at Kilambakkam were extremely shocking.
BJP State president K. Annamalai condemned the incident, and said sexual assault on women and girls had become a horrifying reality in Tamil Nadu. He cited a report on a sexual assault on an 18-year-old girl in a moving autorickshaw, published in The Hindu.
Linking sexual crimes with drug abuse, Mr. Annamalai said the number of arrests made in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cases in Tamil Nadu between 2022 and 2024 was only 1,122. However, in 2021 alone, the number of arrests was 9,632, he added.
Published – February 06, 2025 12:58 am IST
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