copying

teacher

Indian Penal Code

thoughtfully

Observing that a student had “thoughtfully” tried to divert attention from the fact that she had been caughtduring an exam, a special court had acquitted aaccused of sexually assaulting her in 2015.Parvez Khan, who was booked under section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the POCSO Act and sections 354 A and D (sexual harassment and stalking) of the, was acquitted as there was sufficient evidence to show that he was falsely implicated. The court held that he was entitled to an ‘honourable acquittal’.The prosecution had submitted that the incident had allegedly occurred in the laboratory where the practical examinations were conducted. The complainant deposed that on both occasions on August 5 and November 3 in 2015, the teacher had held her hand, hugged her and kissed her forcibly in the laboratory. She had stated that she did not tell anyone about the incident, which contradicted her friend’s testimony that she had informed them on the day the first incident occurred.While the girl had denied being caught copying during her Social Science exam on November 3, 2015, the principal had deposed that Khan was supervising the exam along with another teacher who brought her to her office for cheating. She added that despite being told to call her parents for a meeting, the girl had not followed the instructions.Khan’s lawyer had submitted that the FIR lodged against him in 2015 was an act of revenge for taking her to the principal’s office. The court noted that Khan had brought evidence of witnesses on record to show the suppression of facts leading to the filing of the FIR. Under section 29 of the POCSO Act, the onus lies on the accused to prove their innocence.The defence also pointed out that the girl’s complaint had stated that the teacher had attempted to kiss her, while she later deposed that he had kissed her forcibly, which showed she had made an ‘improvement’ in her statement.The court also noted that despite CCTV cameras being installed around the school and near the laboratory where the incident allegedly occurred, no footage of him committing the offences alleged by the girl was produced in court.The girl’s father had also deposed that due to Khan’s actions, she had attempted to take her own life by consuming phenyl. The court noted that such testimonies “clearly showed that the witnesses are interested to depose against the accused so that no blame comes on them” and that these are “attempts to cover up facts”.The court observed that the girl had stated that she was depressed and noted that she had previously attempted to take her own life on account of her involvement with a boy. “The present allegations are, therefore,told by the victim and her sister to the father so that the attention from (the) topic of copying gets diverted and she would not be taken to task for carrying chits during (the) examination,” the court observed.