Vice-principal arrested for molestation in Pune

Pune: The Pune police has arrested the vice principal of a local school, Suresh Pandurang, in connection with alleged molestation charges levelled against him by a female teacher. The teacher alleged that Pandurang had touched her inappropriately and tried to kiss her. The accused later got bail from a court.

Anjum Bagwan, police inspector, Hadapsar, said, “The teacher has lodged a FIR against the vice principal of her school on charges of molestation.”

According to the FIR, Pandurang, the 58-year-old vice principal of a Hadapsar-based school had been leering at the complainant for more than three months. However, the complainant did not pay any attention to all of this as she did not want to go against her superiors.

PI Bagwan said, “Ten days ago, the accused invited the complainant to the chemistry laboratory and tried to talk to her. He later touched her inappropriately. She immediately narrated the incident to her colleagues who told her that they too had undergone a similar experience. Nobody had raised the issue out of fear that they would lose their jobs. Even the complainant initially decided to keep mum but later, mustered up the courage to speak out against the accused.”

He added, “We are probing whether the accused has molested other women in the school as well.”

The police immediately arrested Pandurang under section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and produced him in the Sessions court. However, Pandurang later got bail. Despite several calls, the accused did not respond to The Asian Age.