J&K: Govt school teacher rapes 16-year-old student, arrested

Jammu: A government school teacher accused of raping a 16-year-old student was arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar, while a hunt was on to nab another accused, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Srinder Kumar Sharma, posted in the Government Primary School in Leondi village of Padder, was arrested last evening, Senior Superintendent of Police (Kishtwar) Abrar Chowdhary said.

Police were investigating the role of some influential members of a local panchayat and an ex-sarpanch for allegedly trying to hush up the matter by forcing a marriage between the minor victim and the accused, he added.

The management of a hotel and a guest house, where the minor was allegedly gang-raped by the teacher and his friend for several days, were also being looked into, SSP Chowdhary said.

Quoting the statement of the girl, a Class X student, the SSP said the teacher enticed her on the pretext of taking her to Gulabgarh and Kishtwar on December 4 for advanced tuitions.

The officer said the accused and his friend, Raj Dev Thakur, took the minor girl to different places, including a hotel and a guest house in Kishtwar, where they allegedly raped her for several days before abandoning her on December 6.

Police were hopeful of arresting the other accused shortly, SSP Chowdhary added.