Rajkot: A 34-year-old teacher of a primary school near Jafrabad in Amreli district was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing and assaulting four minor female students aged 13 to 14 years for nearly two years, police said.According to sources, all the victims are Class 8 students currently. Police said the girls were abused inside the school staff room, located adjacent to the principal’s office. Over the past two to two-and-a-half years, he routinely asked students in his classroom who knew how to make tea. He would then call those who volunteered to the staff room on that pretext and assault them.The accused, teaching in a village near Jafrabad, was taken into custody by the Jafrabad Town police shortly after an official complaint was lodged by the father of one of the girls.Nayana Goradiya, deputy SP, Rajula division, said the matter surfaced following awareness sessions conducted under the district police’s “Mission Smile” initiative. The sessions, which educate school children on “good touch” and “bad touch,” prompted one of the students to disclose instances of inappropriate touching to her parents.Following the disclosure, the girl’s parents approached police. A subsequent inquiry conducted by the Jafrabad Town police at the school revealed that three other students had faced similar abuse. Investigators said that while three girls were subjected to inappropriate touching, one was sexually assaulted.Authorities have seized relevant evidence, including clothing, and have arranged medical examinations for both the victims and the accused.Preliminary inquiries revealed that the teacher, originally hailing from Talaja town of Bhavnagar district and currently residing in a village in Jafrabad taluka, served as a police employee in Gir Somnath district four to five years ago.
