Delhi court sentences tuition teacher to 20 yrs in jail for repeatedly raping student

New Delhi: A Delhi court has sentenced a 29-year-old tuition teacher to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping his student, saying the crime was the "gravest of its kind" and needed to be dealt with an "iron hand".

Instead of discharging his obligation to protect her and take care of her, the convict, identified as Roshan Kumar, committed an "unexpectable" act, said Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar.

The court convicted Roshan Kumar for repeatedly raping the woman in 2017, criminally intimidating her, assaulting her with an intent to outrage her modesty, and voluntarily causing hurt, under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 52,000 on Kumar and directed the Delhi Legal Services Authority to pay a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to the woman.

"This court comes to the conclusion that the offence committed by the convict is the gravest of its kind. The convict has betrayed the trust of the prosecutrix (woman) reposed in him being her teacher. The convict, instead of discharging his obligation of protecting and taking care of the prosecutrix, committed an unexpectable act with her and such an offence needs to be dealt with an iron hand," it said.

The court said the crime was "heinous" and Kumar thought his student was "his asset" and he could use her in the manner he wished. It was Kumar's duty to protect his student if she indulged in any immoral act, which he did not do; instead he raped her and this "cannot be accepted at any cost", it said.

According to the prosecution, Kumar gave tuition classes to the student at her home since she was in class 6 but she stopped taking classes after passing her class 12 examination. Her parents asked him to teach her again during her first year in college.

During these classes in April 2017, he tried to touch her inappropriately. He took the classes when her parents were not at home and raped her, it said.

The complaint said he had clicked her photographs and threatened that he would defame her if she disclosed the incident to anyone. The fearful student did not reveal the incident to anyone and could not raise an alarm as he had gagged her mouth with his hand, it said.

In June 2017, Kumar again raped her after which she told her mother. Her parents took her to the man's house and told his family about the incident; the family promised that the act will not be repeated. Due to the fear of being defamed, her parents did not register a complaint with the police and stopped Kumar from taking tuitions, it said.

But the same year in October, Kumar attacked the victim and her mother and even pulled her mother's clothes at a public place. Following this, her mother lodged a police complaint and Kumar was arrested.

During the trial, the man claimed innocence and said he was falsely implicated. The court said, "The prosecution has been able to prove that accused had committed rape upon the prosecutrix multiple times and also caused injury to her mother and outraged modesty of her mother and the prosecution has been able to prove its case against the accused beyond all reasonable doubts."