Kerala: Teacher faces POCSO case after parent's attack

KOZHIKODE: A teacher of Pantheerankavu High School here has alleged that the police foisted a false POCSO case (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) on him for taking disciplinary action against a  student. He also alleged that the father of the student had assaulted him in the staff room. The police registered the POCSO case after he complained against the attack by the parent, he said. The teacher said that in September, a class nine boy had sought his permission to go home after he marked his attendance, claiming that his trousers were torn. The teacher asked him whether it was true and let him go.

However, later his father accused the teacher of making advances towards the student for unnatural sex. On November 9, the teachers took disciplinary action against the student for misconduct and asked him to bring his parents to the school. On November 14, the boy's father allegedly attacked him at school. The police registered a POCSO case against the teacher a day after the parent attacked him, the teacher said. However, the police said that the parent had only verbally abused him. The teacher was later given anticipatory bail.

He said that he would move the rights panel against the police for not considering his petition and moving ahead with the POCSO case. Nallalam SI S.D. Kailasnath told this newspaper that the issues at the school had started long back and that they had put off registering a case for further investigation. There were incidents of teachers making students settle scores against each other using fabricated cases, including POCSO. A similar case was considered last year and the department is yet to take action against the erring teachers even after the order of the Commission for the Protection of Child Rights.