MUMBAI: After languishing in jail for over three years, three male teachers from a reputed school in Mira Road accused of repeatedly raping a 9-year-old Class 4 student, and a woman attendant charged with acting as their accomplice, were acquitted by a Thane court on Tuesday as the girl's medical report did not establish any sexual assault.

A case was lodged by Mira Road police on November 22, 2015 against physical training

teacher

Sanjay Patil (46 then), drawing teachers Nilesh Bhoir (23) and Jitendra Jadhav (27), all residents of Palghar and Dahanu, and attendant Usha Tupe on the basis of a complaint filed by the girl's mother. The girl had reportedly told her about the sexual assault. They were arrested the next day and since then the men were in Taloja jail and the attendant in Byculla prison.

There is no way persons who are wrongfully arrested, detained or imprisoned in India or those against whom charges are ultimately proven to be baseless can get any relief. In this case, the four persons now acquitted will have to rebuild their lives. The criminal justice system will have to ensure accountability for those who make false charges if justice is to be truly seen to be delivered. TimesView

While the teachers were accused of repeatedly raping the girl over a period of one year, Tupe was accused of taking the girl to the school's second-floor storeroom where she was allegedly raped. The four were suspended by the school after their arrest, and the girl changed her school.

Following the complaint and the arrests, parents lodged protests and refused to send their children to the school. The principal of the primary section resigned, and the school, with over 4,000 students, decided not to appoint any male teachers.

‘Attendant wasn’t working with school when

charges made’

District judge P P Jadhav acquitted all four of rape and Pocso charges on Tuesday. After their release from jail, the four returned home on Wednesday.

Defence advocate Madhukar Jadhav told TOI that five witnesses, including the girl and her mother, were cross-examined during the in-camera trial. The medical report established that the girl had not faced any sexual assault of any kind, he said.

The complainant, who lodged the case during the school's Diwali vacation, had alleged that her daughter was raped two or three times a week over a period of one between 2014 and 2015 year by the teachers.

Jadhav told the court it was unlikely that a 9-year-old would have been repeatedly raped and wouldn't have complained of any pain. He pointed out that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the school, including in the corridors, had not captured any images to suggest any form of sexual abuse of students. The lawyer pointed out that a supervisor and three attendants were placed on duty on each floor during school hours.

The other defence advocate, Gajanan Chavan, said the girl had not been consistent in her statements and seemed to have been tutored. When Tupe was accused of taking the girl to the storeroom, she was not even working at the school, he said. "When rape charges were made, the attendant was working in a nursery in Poisar, Kandivli," Chavan said.

The lawyers alleged the charges were a ploy by a rival educational institute to defame the school, which was established in 1996. They said the girl's father had earlier been working for the rival institute and had been set up to frame the school. The father was not examined during the course of the trial.

While Jadhav said they would file a defamation case against the state, additional public prosecutor Vivek Kadu, who appeared during the final stages of the case, said he would not comment until he had gone through the judgement order.

A school trustee told TOI that the male teachers would not be able to rejoin as the management had already decided not to have any male teachers. He said the management would, however, do everything possible to help the teachers get jobs and restart their lives.