HC Upholds Arrest Of Kanpur Teacher Accused Of Conversion, Sexual Abuse

In a case, the Allahabad High Court upheld the arrest order of a teacher Miss Olive Rohit, also known as Olive Rose Caleb. She was accused of sexually abusing a class X boy and forcing him to convert to Christianity. Olive Rose, a teacher at St. Aloysius High School in Kanpur, was found guilty under multiple sections of the IPC. However, she wrote a petition to the high court under CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. 8651 of 2024. 

A bench of justices Rajiv Gupta and Shiv Shankar Prasad dealt with Olive Rose's petition. It went through the entire background of the case and concluded that the arrest of Olive Rose and two other people must stop. Moreover, the case must be thoroughly examined by the intervention of the cyber cell. 

The background of the case

The entire controversy brewed from September 30, 2023. The father, respondent of the case, saw the chats on his son's mobile phone. In fact, as per the sources, the teacher aired the chat on social media which went viral. The respondent approached the Child Welfare Committee and senior police officers but no action was taken.

However, later the case was registered. Many sections of IPC were imposed on Olive Rose for her crime. An FIR was registered against her for sexual harassment and conversion under Section 156(3) of the Cr. P.C Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and Protection of Children Against Sexual Abuse (POCSO) Act 2012. 

The counter-allegation was also made by the teacher which was registered under Sections 354-A, 504, 507 IPC, and Section 66C of the Information Technology Act. The allegation claimed that the informant's son created fake IDs to harass her.

The conclusion of the investigation

A preliminary investigation was conducted by three independent people- a retired PCS officer, the principal of another school and a social worker. It revealed that the student had taken the mobile phone of the teacher during a dance competition and made fake IDs to chat with her and put mental pressure on her. 

The court's order

The court said the case required further consideration. So it ordered the transfer of the case to a cyber cell to determine whether the student created a fake ID or not. It issued notice and asked the respondents to file affidavits. Lastly, it said that no coercive action must be taken against the accused petitioners. They will not be arrested for the case. 

The court said that the sexual harassment allegations were baseless. The minor student was of a strong mentality and dominated the teacher. Moreover, it said that finding out about the fake ID is crucial to the case and so invoked the intervention of a cyber cell.