Rajasthan: Teacher sent to judicial custody for molesting students

Jaipur: The school teacher of an eminent Sainik School in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, who was arrested for sodomising 12 students, was produced in court on Thursday and sent to a 15-day judicial custody.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Gyan Singh said: “We produced him in court today which sent him to judicial custody for 15 days.”

Ravindra Singh Shekhawat, a resident of Bikaner, was arrested on Tuesday after a complaint was filed by the school principal against him for sodomising students for the last six months.

The incident has left the parents, locals and school staff shocked and angry, who demanded a severe punishment to the accused.

In view of the seething anger among the people, the police cordoned off the area while the accused was being taken to the court on Thursday to avert any mishap.

Sources confirmed that the accused teacher was working in the school since last year and portrayed himself to be the most honest teacher of the school. He was even feted on February 14 this year for his exemplary services.

As per the sources, one student, after getting molested, managed to speak to the principal. And, soon after him 11 more students spoke about the misconduct of the teacher. The school principal then got a complaint lodged against him in the Sadar police station.

The investigation team reached the school and spoke to the students. The fact which came to the fore, as per the sources, was that the accused teacher frequently complained to the parents about the poor studies of their children following which they used to scold their children. And, then the accused would call the students in his room on the pretext of giving them extra lessons where he used to molest them.

As he frequently scolded the students either in the name of discipline or studies, students were scared of him. They followed whatever he said. In fact, he also collected penalties from them on his own in case a student was late for some activity, according to sources.

The teacher was keeping in regular touch with the parents of the students and often complained to them in case their child was weak in speaking English or in grammar. Then, he used to call the child to his room.

In the first week of December, a student dropped a complaint against him in the complaint box. The teacher, however, came to know about this and removed the complaint letter from the box.

The student then fixed an appointment with the principal via a school teacher and asked on the follow up of his complaint that he had submitted through the box. The principal expressed his ignorance in the same, following which the student narrated his traumatic tale to him.

The principal ordered to collect the CCTV footage and a complaint with the police was filed.

Meanwhile, several parents have been flocking the school to meet with their kids.

The state child protection commission has also a sought detailed report in the matter. Its president Sangeeta Beniwal said that they are monitoring the entire development closely.

On Wednesday, Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal demanded a narco-test of the accused while speaking during zero hour in the Lok Sabha. Former MP Santosh Ahlawat demanded the accused to be hanged till death.

The accused teacher was suspended on December 8.

By IANS