Mumbai news: Arabic teacher arrested for allegedly molesting a girl 10 years ago

A 17-year-old girl student of a Mumbai school disclosed during a counselling session that she was allegedly molested by a teacher of Arabic language a decade ago.

A case was filed against the accused on Thursday on the complaint of the school where the victim is studying in Class XII, a Powai police station official said on Saturday.

The accused was arrested by the police within four hours of the case being registered.

"The girl said at the counselling session that the teacher used to come to her home to teach Arabic. If she did not complete her homework, the accused would touch her inappropriately. The girl said these incidents took place when she was 6-8 years old," the official said.

The accused has been charged under Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In a separate case, a teacher was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a Class IX tribal student at a residential school in Dahod district of Gujarat, a police official said on Saturday.

The incident took place in a residential school for tribals in Khalta village and the accused has been identified as Kalpesh Baria, the Dhanpur police station official said.

"Baria called the 17-year-old student to his quarters in the Khalta ashramshala campus on Thursday evening on the pretext of cooking for him and made sexual overtures. He also grabbed her from behind. She managed to leave from the place only after she called her sister there," the official said.

"After her siblings, who study in the same school, found out about her ordeal, they informer their father. The family lodged a complaint against Baria on Friday and he was arrested soon after," he said.

Baria has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 75 (1)(i) (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures), section 8 (sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The ashramshala is run by the state social welfare department.