Mumbai: Rape accused teacher gets support from Kandivli school staffers

According to Kandivli school staffers, none of the CCTV footage of the day the incident took place shows the teacher anywhere near the girl, and also, the child had not visited the washroom that day even once

A month after the Kandivli police arrested a 24-year-old female teacher of a local school for allegedly sexually abusing a four-year-old girl, 68 staffers of the school have come out in support of her.

According to them, none of the CCTV footage of the day the incident took place shows the teacher anywhere near the girl, and also, the child had not visited the washroom that day even once. Based on these findings, the staffers have written a letter to the police, Dindoshi sessions court and the child's parents, and have also attached scanned copies of the CCTV footages with it.

The letter mentions, "The girl was not seen at the place where her family members alleged the incident took place. The allegations made against the teacher are false and baseless. Hence we are stepping in and offering to provide a lawyer for her. Her bail application has also been submitted in court." However, the sessions court rejected her plea.

"The teacher has been working with us for the past two-and-a-half years. Her behaviour towards the students, other staff and parents has been good. There have been no complaints against her," the letter states.

Speaking to mid-day, the accused's younger brother said, "My sister is being punished for something she hasn't done. Her co-prisoners in jail are harassing her physically and mentally. Even her bail application got rejected."

When contacted, Senior Police Inspector Nitin Pondkule said, "We have checked four hours of CCTV footage and have also sent the victim for a medical check-up. The clothes she was wearing on the day of the incident have been sent for forensic analysis. We will take action based on the results of the medical report." Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official in charge of the school's pre-primary section said, "We have conducted an internal inquiry and suspended the accused teacher."

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