Four teachers in Ahmedabad held for ‘indecent acts’

In an act that could put the education fraternity to shame and which is a harsh reminder of what happened to the girl students at the Teachers Training College in Patan a couple of years back, four faculty of NC Bodiwala College were arrested and sent to jail on judicial custody on the charges of sexual harassment (354-IPC), obscene acts and songs (IPC-294), among others charges on Monday.

The development comes as a big blow to NC Bodiwala College officials as they have been denying the charges for a long time.

Despite the first police complaint lodged against three staff members last year and a fresh FIR filed a month back at Kalupur police station, the police didn't take any action till Sunday when the group of women along with the complainant verbally fought with police inspector DA Desai.

The complainant, who is a faculty in statistics and a divorcee, has alleged that the accused used to taunt her in abusive and obscene language and behaved indecently in front of her. She said that the accused used to harass her by pointing to semi-nude pictures published in magazines or newspapers in the staff rooms.

On Monday, however, the Kalupur police arrested four faculty of the college, identified as Rakesh Damir, Milan Shah, SD Shah and Jayantilal Patel, the in-charge principal of the college. The complainant (identity withheld) in the case has alleged that these men sexually harassed her and passed lewd comments, and committed others indecent acts upon her.