Maharashtra: 42-year-old teacher held for allegedly sexually harassing 13-year-old in Puna Rural

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 23 (ANI): A 42-year-old teacher allegedly sexually harassed a 13-year-old female student by sending obscene messages on WhatsApp chat and inappropriately touching the girl while in school in a village in Daund tehsil of Pune Rural. The Pune Rural Police has arrested the teacher along with the headmaster of the school.
The police took a suo moto cognizance of the incident on Thursday and a senior police official visited the girl's village to verify the facts. The police immediately registered a case after receiving a formal complaint from the victim's parents, said Pune Rural Police SP Pankaj Deshmukh.
The Police arrested the headmaster of the school for failing to report the incident to the authorities after the student's father made a complaint about the incident in the school, said police.
Father of the girl found that the teacher had allegedly sent inappropriate messages to his daughter before August 15. When the father approached the headmaster with his concerns, the headmaster reportedly ignored the complaint which led to his arrest, according to the police.
Both the headmaster and the teacher have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), said police.
Further investigation into the matter is underway. More details are awaited. (ANI)