Adding to the growing number of allegations of child sexual abuse in Chennai schools, a 51-year-old teacher of a prestigious school has been accused by multiple former students of sexual misconduct. J Anand, a commerce teacher from Maharishi Vidya Mandir in Chennai has now been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Although several former students of Maharishi Vidya Mandir came out against Anand on social media, and recounted experiencing sexual harassment, blackmailing and molestation at his hands, the 51-year-old was finally arrested after one former student lodged a formal complaint against him.
He was arrested by the Kilpauk All Women Police station on June 8 after the former student’s complaint. The school, meanwhile, suspended Anand on May 28, after allegations started coming out on social media. The Maharishi Vidya Mandir Alumni student community also wrote a letter on May 26 to the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Tamil Nadu government, the State Commission of Women, and the school’s correspondent, demanding action against the accused teacher.
The letter quotes certain alleged incidents of sexual misconduct by J Anand against students who studied under him. Highlighting a specific incident, the letter says that Anand had allegedly messaged a student to come to class by 7.30 am, before school began. When the student complied and reached early, she found that she was the only one in class and the teacher allegedly tried to behave inappropriately with her.
The letter recounts other allegations against J Anand from another school in the city too, where he taught before he joined Maharishi Vidya Mandir. It states that the 51-year-old had gone to a student’s house when her parents were not there, invited other girls from the class over and tried to behave inappropriately with them by “forcing them to sit on his lap” and “kissed them” while posing as a “fatherly figure”.
Speaking to TNM, S Amudha, SHO of the Kilpauk All Women Police station said, “We arrested J Anand, under sections 10 read with 9F of the POCSO act.” The relevant sections deal with punishment for aggravated sexual assault (section 10). Section 9 which defines aggravated sexual assault, under subhead F states that whoever being on the management or staff of an educational institution or religious institution, commits sexual assault on a child in that institution can be booked for the same.
“We received a formal complaint from one student, who had graduated from the said school. Based on this, we arrested the accused man and produced him before the magistrate on the same day,” SHO Amudha added.