: Madras High Court today refused to grant anticipatory bail to a Tamil teacher who eloped with his 10th standard girl student and observed he should have acted like a guardian to her instead of 'sexually assaulting' her.
"A teacher, that too a Tamil teacher who should be fully aware of the culture of Tamils and act like a guardian of his student, according to the complaint, eloped and sexually assaulted her," Justice S Nagamuthu observed.
The judge made the observation while rejecting the bail plea of a 27-year-old Tamil teacher, who had been charged with eloping with the 10th standard girl student
After several days alleged sexual exploitation of the girl, the man dropped back her to village in Salem district.
Police said the girl after completing her SSLC exam had eloped with the teacher.The two visited several cities over many days, during which the teacher allegedly sexually exploited her. Later, he brought her back to her village.
The girl's mother filed a complaint of kidnap and rape against the teacher.
Seeking anticipatory bail, the man said it was wrong to allege he had sexually assaulted his student and pointed out that the girl had refused to go with her parents when she was produced before a magistrate
The judge said the teacher should have acted like a guardian to the girl.Instead, according to the charges, he had exceeded his limits, kidnapped her from the guardianship of her mother, taken her to various places,sexually exploited her and later returned to the village with the girl and left her in the lurch.
Rejecting his claim that the girl had hesitated to go with her parents, the judge said that could not be a ground to say the man has committed no offence.
While accepting the need of teacher's custodial interrogation, the judge said he must undergo a medical exam to ascertain if he was capable of indulging in sex.
