Student coerced into watching porn in Karimganj; teacher booked under POCSO on the run

Karimganj, August 18: A government school teacher in Karimganj has been booked for allegedly coercing a girl student into watching pornography in the classroom.

The incident occurred at Sonakhira Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar School in the Patharkandi constituency on August 12. According to the police, the accused, Zahir Uddin, is currently on the run.

Reports indicate that the victim was initially hesitant to inform her family about the incident but later confided in her mother, revealing that her teacher had forced her to watch "something ugly" and had also touched her inappropriately.

“A case has been registered against the teacher under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,” Karimganj Superintendent of Police Partha Pratim Das told the press.

Outraged by the incident, people from several nearby villages took the law into their own hands, setting the school on fire after vandalising its property and ransacking its premises.

The incident escalated tensions in the area, with an angry mob taking to the streets and blocking National Highway 208, which connects Assam with Tripura, for two hours.

Senior police officials from Karimganj, along with those from the Patharkandi area, rushed to the scene to contain the mob and restore law and order by clearing the highway.

The locals are demanding the teacher’s immediate arrest under the POCSO Act and are calling for his death sentence.

Meanwhile, following the vandalism and arson at the government school, the police have also registered a case against the miscreants involved.

A manhunt has been launched to apprehend the accused, and further investigation into the case is underway.