A school teacher who was accused of sexual harassment by students and alumni was arrested by the Chennai city police on Monday midnight.
The Ashok Nagar All Women Police in the early hours of Tuesday arrested G Rajagopalan, the teacher accused of sexual harassment. He was brought to a magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody.
The incident came to light after Kripali, an alumni of the school collated and shared screenshots of many students sharing their ordeals of being allegedly harassed by the teacher. One of the screenshots shows a picture of him topless with only a cloth around his neck.
The management of PSBB School on Monday noon suspended G Rajagopalan, a class 12 Commerce and Accountancy teacher from the KK Nagar Branch. This happened after several students and alumni alleged that he sexually misbehaved with them. The accusations included actions like showing up in online classes with just a towel, touching students inappropriately, asking them out for movies at off-hours, sharing pornographic links on groups and passing comments of sexual nature on female students.
In the suspension memo, the PSBB management said, "Some very serious allegations of misconduct have been alleged against you and the same has come to the knowledge of the management from and through social media (sic)." The school added that the teacher will be suspended pending further enquiry.
Rajagopalan was arrested under POCSO Act Sections 11 (When a person commits sexual harassment on a child by uttering words, showcasing his body, etc.,) and Section 12 (Whoever, commits sexual harassment upon a child shall be punished with imprisonment), under IPC Act 354 (a) (Sexual Harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any words, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object); under IT Act section 67 and 67(a) (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form)
The police sources said that they are filing a petition to take the accused under custody. Earlier on Monday, the police had said that the administration did not co-operate properly and later received a complaint on Monday night. The police after enquiries apprehended Rajagopalan in the early hours of Tuesday
