A special police team formed by the Avadi Police Commissioner arrested a private school correspondent late Thursday night (November 24), who was accused of sexual harassment by Class XII students of the school. According to a report by TNIE, he was remanded to judicial custody on Friday, November 25. He was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the police, the man was arrested at the Chennai Airport around 11:30 on Thursday night.
The police said that the man, Vikram (name changed), was returning to the city from his hideout in Goa when they received a tip-off. Based on the tip-off, the special team arrested him at the airport. After the arrest, he was produced before a Mahila court on Friday morning and was remanded in judicial custody for 15 days. He was then sent to Puzhal Central Prison, reported TNIE
Before his arrest, on Thursday morning, Vikram uploaded a video on social media. In the video, he claimed innocence and alleged that 'somebody' was using the children accusing him of sexual harassment to perform protests and register complaints. He also allegedly attempted to end his life. In the video, he was seen spraying a pesticide from a can in his mouth. "Dig deeper and you all will find the truth," he said in the video, as per the TNIE report.
On Wednesday, November 23, the police booked him on charges of sexual harassment. A police officer from the Avadi commissionerate said that he was booked under the POCSO Act after the students of the school and their parents staged a protest outside the school and the management failed to take action against the man. The accused Correspondent of the school was absconding and special teams were formed to arrest him.
Vikram was the son of the previous school correspondent who retired a few months back. The police said that Vikram allegedly sexually harassed many Class XII girl students at the school under the pretext of providing counselling. He would take them to a separate room saying that he would help them prepare for exams better and would allegedly sexually harass them, the police told TNIE.
Some of the girls told their parents about these incidents, after which the parents then complained to the school management. However, the management did not take action against Vikram. Angered by this, the parents and students staged a protest outside the school campus demanding the arrest of the accused. The police arrived at the scene and tried to pacify the students and parents, but to no avail. Some of the students who were inside the school staged a sit-in protest demanding that Vikram be arrested immediately.
