Telangana School Headmaster Held For Sexually Assaulting Girl Students: 10 Things To Know

The headmaster of a primary school in Telangana, who was recently accused of sexually assaulting and misbehaving with five girl students, was reportedly arrested. His arrest comes following a manhunt that was launched after he absconded when the distressing events came to light. According to reports, the 40-year-old had raped girls at the school, aged between 7 and 11, on multiple occasions.

Here are 10 things to know about the case:

1. The 40-year-old was the headmaster of a primary school in Chintawarray village of Telangana. He allegedly used to give "personal classes" to girl students since they didn’t have smartphones to study online during the pandemic. It was reported that incidents of assault had been taking place since August 2020.

2. The survivors, aged between 7 and 11, were called into school separately. The accused then sexually assaulted them, made them watch pornography videos, and asked them to re-enact the content.

3. According to New Indian Express, survivors reported that the headmaster threatened them with severe consequences, including death, if they told their parents about his actions.

4. The criminal events came to light when one of the survivors fell sick and had to visit the hospital. While undergoing treatment the 7-year-old reportedly confided in her mother.

5. “Though I kept asking her, she never told me anything about why she did not want to attend his classes. Then she recently fell ill and was unable to walk properly. Even then, I did not suspect that such a thing would have happened. Only after continuously asking her for days, she told me about being sexually abused,” the survivor’s mother was quoted saying.

6. Upon further investigation, it was found that the headmaster used to abuse five girls. On taking the issue to the school authorities, a few teachers tried to settle the matter internally.

7. Parents of the survivor, however, were enraged following the incident and beat up the headmaster, the video of which recently went viral on social media. On being alerted about the issue, the Mandal tahsildar and ICDS project officer rushed to the village for inquiries.

8. A case was registered by the police against the headmaster under relevant sections of IPC and POCSO act, as reported by TOI.

9. News reports quoted Sunil Dutt, SP of the area, saying, "Since the girls are very young, we are working along with counsellors and ICDS staff. This is a tribal area and it is a small school."

10. On Thursday, it was reported that the headmaster, who had been absconding since the sexual assault incidents came to light, was arrested in Telangana by the authorities.