Chennai: Teacher arrested for abusing 7-year-old boy

A fifty-seven-year-old teacher was arrested on charges of sexually abusing a seven-year-old student on Monday.

Police said the boy, a student of Class III in  a private school in Saidapet opened up to an uncle about the abuse he suffered under the accused, Reuban Ravikumar, a teacher in the same school.

The behaviour of the accused came to light when the family of the boy noticed a change in the boy’s behaviour. “He seemed unusually tired every evening for at least a week. And he did not play during the weekend as he used to,” a close relative said. “We asked him what was wrong but he initially held back his experiences with the teacher. He later opened up to his paternal uncle,” he added.

The family lodged a complaint with the police on Monday morning. As the news of the abuse spread, several parents rushed to the school and some allegedly even hit the accused teacher.  Police rushed to the spot after the disruption was reported and took the teacher into custody.

A case has been registered against the accused under section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Act, 2000, read with Section 377 and 511 of the IPC. The accused was produced before a court in Saidapet which remanded him in judicial custody.