Students protest arrest of physics lecturer booked under POCSO

Bandipora: A group of students from a government school in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district staged a protest on Wednesday, demanding the release of a physics lecturer who was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting a 12th standard girl student.

The students, mostly girls, gathered near Gulshan Chowk and shouted slogans such as ‘Free Sir’ and ‘We want justice’.

They also blocked the traffic for some time and claimed that the lecturer was “innocent”.

The protest came a day after a girl student from the same school complained to the Police at Bandipora Police Station against the physics lecturer of the Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) Plan in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.

In the complaint, the girl alleged that the lecturer had been torturing her daily and that she was scared and living in a constant phobia.

Following the complaint, the lecturer was booked under 354 IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which are non-bailable offenses amounting to “assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and aggravated sexual assault”.

The lecturer was arrested on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Bandipora said that he had pacified the girl and her family and both had reached a resolution that the accused lecturer, who had been reportedly overstaying in the school would be transferred.

The CEO also said that the girl would receive support to complete her education and material and classes to prepare for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Greater Kashmir saw a group of female students from the same school assemble at Gulshan Chowk on Wednesday around 4 pm to protest against the arrest and charges filed against the lecturer.

Holding placards, they said the lecturer was ‘dedicated’ and ‘innocent’ and that the accusations against him were “not true”.