Soumen has been arrested by police.
Soumen Rana, in eye of storm after being accused of sexually assaulting a minor in an elite Kolkata school has strongly denied all allegations against him.
He has been quoted by Zee 24 Ghanta as saying, " I didn't molest. There is no question of molesting such an young kid."
According to Soumen, he was teaching dance lessons in the open, not inside a classroom. He had merely punished the girl for being naughty, claims Soumen. However according to Soumen, he allowed the girl to go home once the class was over. However despite his plea of innocence, Soumen has been arrested by the Kolkata Police on Friday, once the incident came to light.
Soumen allegedly molested a Class II girl for the past few months and had threatened to throw her off the school building if she said anything to her family members.
Family members of the child, along with other guardians protested in front of the school since early morning on Friday. The victim’s family said that they had come to know of it on Thursday. A complaint wasbeen lodged at Tollygunge PS and the teacher was nabbed. Police had formidable problem getting the accused teacher out of the school. Members of agitating parents hit the teacher and in the process, officials of Tollygunge PS too got injured.
Mother of the victim said, “We have informed the police. A complaint has been filed and now we are waiting to see what steps the school authorities take.”
Guardians complained that there was no CCTV within the premises of the school and the only one installed is outside the gate. “Why is there a male teacher in a girls’ school? Again, after the last incident schools were told to keep a female escort with little girls going to the toilet. Nothing of that sort has been done here,” said one of the agitating mothers.
Police said on the basis of the complaint submitted, a case under section 10 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. Rana has been arrested and would be produced at the court on Saturday. The girl has been sent for a medical test and her statement would be recorded as well. Sources said that police have found a lot of inconsistencies in the Rana’s replies while questioning him.
State education minister Partha Chatterjee condemned the incident and said, “Security within private schools is the lookout of the school authority. Especially in girls’ schools, it should be dealt with a lot of seriousness. We had already drawn up a guideline for these schools. If the school is found out to be flouting those guidelines, the education department would intervene in that case.”
Sources said that 26-year-old Rana hailed from Midnapore district and worked with various schools and other organisations as dance instructor. He had been appointed as the dance instructor here about five months ago. School authorities didn’t say whether he was a permanent or a contractual staff member but it was found that immediately after the incident surfaced, Rana had been suspended from his duties.
With inputs from Arshad Ali
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