Former principal, teacher of school for disabled convicted in POCSO case

Mumbai, Dec 19 (PTI) A special POCSO Act court has sentenced a former principal and a teacher to five years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing girl students at a school for children with speech and hearing impairment.

A school is a "pious institute" and when a "Godlike figure himself sexually tortures,¦ the victims would carry a trauma for life," said judge Satyanarayan R Navander in the verdict delivered on December 12. A copy of the order became available on Friday.

The court found both the accused guilty of aggravated sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Taking undue advantage of the physical condition of the victims who were in their "custody and care", the accused harassed them sexually, said the court.

The offences came to light in 2014 after several students revealed the sexual abuse at the school at a meeting organized by a social activist.

Between 2013 and 2014, the accused misused their positions of trust to harass and assault girls who suffered from hearing and speech impairment, and the parents initially did not believe the victims because of "the status the teachers enjoy", the judge noted.

The accused failed to debunk the charges, he added. PTI AVI KRK