Mumbai: Rape survivor alleges threats from relatives of accused school teacher

Accused teacher, Amit Dubey

The 14-year-old rape survivor has filed a fresh complaint at the Pelhar police station against the relatives of the accused teacher and school management, who have been charged under strict sections of the POCSO Act, accusing them of criminally intimidating her and her family since the FIR was lodged against them.

In her one-page complaint, the rape survivor alleged that she has been receiving life threats from the accused's close relatives who have been repeatedly telling her that she (the school girl) will be ‘forced to marry the teacher who raped her' multiple times since March.

"I am in fear because they have a strong background and I am alone (sic)," read the complaint letter submitted before the investigating officer. "The pressure which I am facing is very frustrating. Please give attention to this matter (sic)," the complaint read, which was submitted before Pelhar police station on September 9.

A protest in support of the survivor outside the school premises last week. Pics/Hanif Patel

The accused teacher was arrested last month after the girl reported the incident to the Pelhar police station in Nalasopara East. However, the school management, including the principal and the supervisor, who allegedly took no action despite being informed of the serious crime, were initially not charged. Following a mid-day expose, the principal and supervisor have now also been booked under the provisions of the POCSO Act.

Talking to mid-day, the brother of the rape survivor accused the school management of trying to bribe him to withdraw the case against them. "Not directly, but the school management has been trying to bribe us with a huge amount so that the FIR against the principal and supervisor can be quashed," the brother said.

"The school management has contacted our distant relatives in Jaunpur thretening us to dilute the FIR or else they will take revenge. I have also learnt that the school management has been trying to register a bogus sexual abuse case against me to use it as an arm-twisting tool to weaken the POCSO case," the brother said.

"When the rape case was being registered against the teacher at Pelhar police station, the accused's brother tried to convince me not to take stringent action. And when we did not succumb to his pressure, he criminally intimidated me saying "thik hai dekh lenge tumko" (we will see later). We are a simple family who is being squarely squeezed by all the sides of the accused in this case," he added.

"I have got a whiff that the school management has been trying to falsely implicate me in a fake rape case to settle the score. We all have been disturbed since the day we learnt about it. Now, we are planning to relocate from this area to a safer place as our life is under constant threat," said the brother, who has gone to his hometown in north India.

When contacted the Pelhar police speaking about the one-page complaint letter submitted by the rape survivor, said, "Yes, we have received a fresh complaint against the relatives of the accused trio. The survivor and her relatives have received no direct threat from them but we have strongly reprimanded them and warned them not to indulge in any criminal activities as such because the POCSO Act is very stringent."