In yet another shameful incident, a school teacher from Kadambidi in the Palakkad district of Kerala has been convicted for sexually abusing a student. Terming this a heinous crime, the Thrissur Fast Track Special Court sentenced the teacher to a total of nine years of rigorous imprisonment on Wednesday, June 1.

The Special Court judge, while pronouncing the verdict, stated that a teacher is supposed to be a model for society and students and, therefore, such a crime coming from a teacher should be taken seriously. A reduction in the quantum of punishment was refused by the judge, despite a request from the convict.

The victim was represented in the court through Special Public Prosecutor KP Ajay Kumar. During the trial, it has been reported by ENS that the victim's friend turned hostile towards her but statements made by the victim and the school's principal, along with the scientific evidence, helped in proving the case against the teacher.

The incident had taken place in 2018 and the case had been under judicial process since. According to the victim's statement, the teacher had spoken to her with sexual intent on multiple occasions and, later, had sexually abused her. A case against him had been registered by Pazhayannur sub-inspector Das PK and inspector Vijayakumar had submitted the chargesheet, as reported by ENS.

The accused has been identified as Reghunandhanan, who is 58 years old. He was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment and was imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 under Sections 9 and 10 of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, along with two years of rigorous imprisonment, and a Rs 10,000 penalty under Sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act. Additionally, he was sentenced to a year of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 was imposed on him as per Section 354 (A) of IPC (Indian Penal Code), as reported by ENS.