Chennai School Harassment Case: Suspended Teacher Taken In Police Custody

Chennai Teacher arrested after harassment allegations: A secondary school teacher at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) school in Chennai was taken into custody on Monday evening, after accusations of sexual harassment surfaced against him. The school management had already suspended the teacher after numerous alumni and students accused him of alleged sexual advances and misbehaviour.

Students had accused Commerce teacher G Rajagopalan of allegedly walking into online class wrapped only in a towel to sending suggestive texts to girls and pornography links to the class group. Several chats have surfaced online in which the teacher reportedly asked his female students out for movies and pushed them to send him their photos.

While students have alleged that the school took no action against Rajagopalam despite their complaints, PSBB denied having any prior knowledge of the teacher's misconduct. Read more on the here.

Taking action on the complaints, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) is now probing the incident. A senior Chennai police officer said, “We are probing if we can trace individual complainants who are willing to give statements (for an FIR to be registered against the accused)."

The police officer further said that most charges against Rajagopalan were about sexual advances he had allegedly made, and remarks made with a sexual overtone. "The accused has been summoned for inquiry. There are many complaints along with screenshots…. Most allegations emerged on social media, especially on Instagram,” he added.

The alleged revelations on social media against the teacher led to an outrage, several celebrities and politicians expressed concern and demanded action against the teacher. Many of these celebrities were infact former students of the institution in question. Read how social media reacted to the case here.