Teacher held for harassing five girls in Delhi

A 38-year-old music teacher of a government school in Northwest Delhi's Jahangir Puri was under arrest here on Tuesday for supposedly molesting five girls of the institution while 18 men and five women were also arrested after a dispute over the issue turned violent.

A police constable was injured while two government vehicles were damaged in stone pelting by angry protesters, police said.

The accused, recognized as Vijay Kumar, who used to teach music in A-block Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Jahangir Puri, was arrested in the afternoon after the victims' parents and locals staged an angry protest alleging that he had injured the girls.

"A case under section 354 IPC (molestation) and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) has been registered against the accused at Mahindra Park police station and investigations are on," said a senior police official.

Kumar had allegedly harmed the girls while taking their music class yesterday. They went home and then narrated the incident to their parents who reached the school in the morning to meet the principal. They demanded immediate action against the teacher and also insisted on meeting him.

 
"The parents claim that instead of cooperating with them or taking action, the school principal exposed against going to police and asked them to leave the premises," the official said.