Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an FIR registered under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) Act against an art teacher of the school for allegedly filming obscene photos and videos of female students in a government residential school in Kolar district.
A single-judge bench headed by Justice M Naga Prasanna heard the petition filed by a 46-year-old teacher seeking quashing of the FIR. ''According to Section 11 of the POCSO Act, showing a child's body or any part of the body in an indecent manner constitutes sexual harassment. This act is punishable under Section 12 of the POCSO Act. According to the investigation report of the case and the documents of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), it is alleged that the applicant teacher has 5 mobile phones and each mobile phone has about a thousand photos and hundreds of videos. This act of the teacher was really rude and horrible,'' the bench expressed shock.
''Why did an art teacher have so many mobiles? What are the videos and pictures in them? The truth of that has to be revealed through a full-scale investigation and inquiry. The petitioner's act has more shades than horror. As a teacher, filming this kind of video is rude. Such acts are not forgivable. The applicant may face a full trial and be acquitted. The case is under trial and if it is canceled it will encourage the illegal harassment by the teacher and dismissed the application of the accused,'' The bench said.
Details of the Case: The petitioner is a art teacher in a residential school in Kolar district. On December 15, 2023, the Joint Director of Social Welfare Department received a complaint through the control room against the teacher regarding the allegations of him taking photos and videos while the school girls were changing clothes. An FIR was registered by the police against the petitioner on December 17. Due to this, the teacher moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR and the proceedings of the Kolar Additional District and Sessions Court (POCSO Special Court).
