Class 10 student allegedly raped by teacher in Gorakhpur

GORAKHPUR: A Class 10 student at a private inter-college was allegedly raped repeatedly over four months by a teacher who is also the son of the school manager, police said on Saturday. According to news agency PTI, the matter came to light after the 15-year-old girl allegedly attempted suicide on Thursday.

Police said the accused had uploaded a recording of a phone conversation between them online to pressure her into meeting him. They said the accused is on the run. According to a complaint lodged by the girl’s grandfather on Friday, the accused allegedly called her to his office cabin after school hours around four months ago and molested her. When she resisted, he allegedly threatened to fail her in examinations and defame her publicly. He later raped her and obtained her mobile phone number.

Over the following months, he allegedly continued to sexually exploit her after promising to ensure her admission to a school in Gorakhpur city, arranging a rented accommodation for her and bearing her educational expenses, police said. The girl's father works in Mumbai, while she lives with her mother, grandfather and younger sister in their village.

Police said the girl recently refused to meet the accused again, following which he allegedly circulated an audio recording of their phone conversation online. Distressed by this, the girl attempted suicide, they said. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against the accused, aged around 29, under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Circle Officer Gola Darvesh Kumar said. "Police teams have been deployed to conduct raids and arrest the accused," he said.