Tutor’s Assault On Minor Exposed Via Instagram Leads to 20-Year Jail Term

A social media post by an 18-year-old girl in the year 2019 led to the 20 years of imprisonment of a paedophile tutor who is more than 60 years of age. The teacher, Sunil Dua, used to teach the girl when she was 13 and was studying in class VII. The post of 2019, made during the MeToo movement, expressed the sexual harassment she faced during that time. It not only alerted the parents to file an FIR but also led the trial court in Pragraj to sentence the paedophile to rigorous imprisonment. 

Talking to a media handle, the father of the girl said that as soon as he read her post, he decided to file an FIR. “We did not allow any time to lapse after her post. There was no time spent in any discussions,” he said. The FIR was filed on April 14, 2019, and soon after, the trial in court too began. 

Talking to the media, the father read out a statement that he issued in court. He said, "If a paedophile is hidden, he can damage so many lives. I told the judge that a paedophile is like a serial killer. He (Dua) was a loner, never got married, and he never revealed his address." 

He also added that the incident left a deep scar on his daughter's life. She went through mental agony and has since suffered from anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She found it difficult to focus on her studies, the father added, and she is now a student of psychology. 

As quoted in the judgement, the girl said during her examination-in-chief, "I came to know that he is still taking tuition for children. When I saw his advertisement for coaching, I felt a responsibility to ensure that what accused Sunil did to me should not happen to anyone else." 

Eventually, the court ordered 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for the tutor, Sunil Dua. It said that the girl gathered courage from the ongoing MeToo movement and posted the alleged incident on Instagram.

How did Assuallter make his way into the girl's life? 

The family met Dua at a restaurant, where he introduced himself as a tutor who taught many students from the girl's school. The parents agreed and gave him a chance. 

Recalling the incident, the girl's father said that he used to stalk his prey at famous restaurants. "So he seemed like a seasoned criminal," the father added. 

Initially, Dua taught the girl at the dining table, which was at the center of the house. However, after a week or so, he managed to move the tuition to a room in front of the kitchen, saying that the dining table was not a conducive space for studying. After some time, he again convinced the family to shift the study to another room without a direct view, citing the height of the computer table as an inconvenience.

It was then that he began his abuse, which lasted from October 2013 to February 2014. Even though the mother of the girl had directed Dua to come only after she returned from her job, he used to come early after following the directions for a few days. 

As per the court document, Dua would scold the girl a lot so that she would become scared of him. He would then talk to her sexually, tell her about his sexual relationships with his girlfriend, and make her watch porn. Whenever the girl expressed discomfort with his behaviour, he would complain to her mother that she wasn't studying. 

The order also said that Dua even threatened suicide to make the girl go naked in front of him. Then, on Valentine's Day 2014, Dua made the girl touch his private parts. On February 16, 2014, the girl asked her mother not to let the tutor inside the house. This led to an argument between them and the discontinuation of the tuition. 

But Sunil Dua was relentless, as he continued to call the family even after being fired. He was even spotted outside the girl's school. The father registered an FIR against him in 2014, which stopped Dua from bothering the family. 

But the girl was already in mental agony. She faced nightmares and panic attacks for the next few years. Eventually, when she turned 18, she took to Instagram and revealed her ordeal. 

An FIR was lodged based on the post, and Dua was arrested within days. Speaking to the magistrate, the girl said under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that Dua used to touch her private parts and made her touch his. She also made allegations of digital penetration. 

The tutor made efforts to release himself of the charge

The tutor filed a plea at the Allahabad High Court for bail. But it was rejected in November 2019. The court said that at the time of the incident, the girl and Dua shared a pious relationship. Citing the shastras, the court said that a teacher is “bound to have good moral character without having any ambition of materialistic pleasure and is restrained from making false speeches to his pupils.”.

Then, during the trial, Dua claimed that he was suffering from prostate cancer and filed an application for summoning a clerk of AIIMS for his defence evidence. However, it was found that Dua was not suffering from cancer, and the trial court rejected his application. 

When these were not successful, Dua and his lawyers tried other defence tactics to defame the girl. He told the court that the girl initiated the trial to gain fame. Dua's lawyers claimed that the allegations made by the girl were fake and baseless and that she had fallen into the "MeToo trap." 

However, the court dismissed the lawyers' claims as meaningless and unreasonable. “No educated victim or her educated family members can try to gain fame with the false accusation of a heinous act of rape on their daughter studying in class 7 by her adult teacher. The accused is not such a famous personality that the victim wanted to get accolades by associating her name with him,” the trial court said. 

Dua then relied on the claim that the girl had not undergone a medical examination. He also claimed that she refused the examination because that would expose her character.

But the court rejected all his contentions. For the refusal to undergo a medical examination, the court said that the FIR was filed years after the incident happened. So even if a medical examination is conducted, there would be no evidence. The court further thwarted Dua's attempt to character-assassinate the girl. The court said that a delay in filing an FIR doesn't dismiss the truth of the story. 

The court claimed that there was a sufficient and satisfactory reason behind the delay, as “at that time she was a student, who perhaps did not even properly understand the meaning of all the things that were happening to her.”She could not muster enough courage to say anything to anyone against her teacher. There was a natural fear in her mind in view of the relationship between guru and disciple,” the court said. 

The judgement

The court solely relied on the testimony of the girl and her parents. It even cited the judgements of the Supreme Court in which rape cases were dealt with based on the testimony of the survivor. 

The court said, "It is clear that the events described by the victim are detailed on a day-to-day basis…The allegations of the victim are solid and irrefutable, which is also corroborated by PW1 (mother) and 2 (father) describing the conduct of the victim and the accused." 

The court has found Sunil Dua guilty of Section 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act 2012. 

Sentencing him for 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, the court said, “The accused in the present case is an educated person above 60 years of age. Considering his age, it is possible that after being in prison for 20 years, he will not be capable of teaching.”

The girl's family is now relieved and considers the trial and sentence a big win. Talking to media, the family said, “We were very disturbed. For six years, all we did in the family was discuss her condition…Because till the moment the sentence was passed, we were on the tenterhooks."