Sexual assault of Mumbai school student: Police to get LOC issued against teacher's accomplice

Hindustan Times

9 hours ago

MUMBAI: The police have started the process to get a lookout circular (LOC) issued against the accomplice of the female teacher arrested for sexually assaulting one of her minor male students. The accomplice, who is also a former teacher, is believed to be in London. She allegedly helped persuade the 16-year-old survivor to maintain physical relations with his teacher for over a year, the police said. The police will also record the survivor's statement before a metropolitan magistrate. (Pic for representation/Shutterstock)
Meanwhile, the 40-year-old accused teacher's psychiatric test has prima facie revealed that she is of sound mind, said a police officer. The police made the teacher undergo a psychiatric evaluation so that she can't claim in the future that she is mentally ill.
A special Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act court on Thursday remanded the accused teacher to judicial custody for 14 days, until July 16. While the police sought an extension of her police custody remand, additional sessions judge Sabina Altaf Malik rejected the plea, saying there was no progress in the investigation.
The police have now turned their focus towards the accused teacher's accomplice. 'We are in the process of getting a lookout circular issued against the accomplice of the teacher, who is also a former teacher, has completed a PhD and is believed to be in London,' said the police officer. 'She is the one who played a role in convincing the 16-year-old boy to start meeting the teacher, saying a relationship between older women and teenage boys was quite common.'
An LOC is a mechanism used by authorities to check whether a person travelling by air or sea is wanted by the police.
After being roped in by the accused teacher to help her, the accomplice, also a woman, allegedly came from Kolkata to meet the minor boy, said the police officer. She allegedly met the boy at a hotel in south Mumbai, where she allegedly convinced him to start a physical relationship with his English teacher.
According to the police, from January 2024 to February 2025, the accused teacher had sex with the boy at various five-star hotels and also in her car. The teacher resigned from one of Mumbai's top schools last year after the boy, who also studied there, passed Class 11. The police are yet to ascertain why she resigned, although she has allegedly claimed that it was because of a low salary.
'We have also written to the school to ask them the reason for her resignation and to check if there were any more victims,' said the police officer. He added that the teacher is claiming that she was 'really in love' with the boy.
The police said they have yet to collect CCTV footage and record the statement of the staff at various hotels where the teacher allegedly took the boy. The police will also record the survivor's statement before a metropolitan magistrate, said the officer.
Meanwhile, advocate Neeraj Yadav, who appeared for the teacher in court, said he had opposed the plea for an extension of her police custody remand, and would soon file a bail application for her.