ZP school teacher held for sexually harassing girl students; sent to judicial custody
Beed (PTI): Police have arrested a government school teacher in Beed district of Maharashtra for allegedly sexually harassing and molesting girl students of Classes 3 and 4, officials said on Wednesday.
The teacher, Vishnu Zombade, was arrested on Tuesday and a local court sent him to 14 days of judicial custody.
The incident came to light in the school located in Majalgaon taluka.
"Zombade was allegedly harassing the girls for the past 15 days and also threatening them to remain silent. The crime came to light after one of the victims confided in her family members, who approached the police on Monday," inspector of Majalgaon Rural police station Balak Koli said.
Zombade had reportedly joined the school only two months ago, he said.
The incident triggered widespread anger among parents, who raised question marks over the safety of their wards.
"If teachers themselves behave in this manner, what future do our children have?" one of the parents asked.
They also urged the authorities to appoint a female teacher at the school to ensure the safety of girl students.
The accused was booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment), besides sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
