Bareilly: A 42-year-old maths teacher of a private school here was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly sexually harassing a class VIII girl student.Baradari police station SHO Upendra Singh said, “Following the complaint filed by the girl’s elder brother, we have registered an FIR against the teacher under section 354 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various sections of the POCSO Act. The accused has been sent to jail.”In his complaint, the brother of the 12-year-old girl alleged that the teacher used to touch two girl students inappropriately and would also force them to talk over phone. The brother claimed that due to sexual harassment his sister wanted to stop going to school.The brother further alleged, “The teacher was sexually harassing my younger sister for over a month. When I learnt about it, around 15 days ago, I lodged a complaint with a woman teacher, but in vain.”“On Tuesday, when my sister returned home, she was crying and even refused to have lunch. She told our mother that the maths teacher had been harassing her and her friend, who lives in our neighbourhood. The teacher even wanted to gift a mobile phone to my sister,” he alleged.“On Wednesday, I went to her school and lodged a complaint with the principal. When I asked the principal why no action was taken on my earlier complaint, she refused to comment. Then I made a call to Dial 100, and police reached the school within 20 minutes and arrested the teacher,” said the victim’s brother.The principal, however, said the girl’s brother did not meet her, but had lodged a complaint with a woman teacher. “I learnt about the incident on Wednesday, and when I asked the woman teacher concerned, she said she forgot to tell me about the incident. Had I been aware of the incident, I would have taken action against the maths teacher,” she added.

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