Booked for sexual harassment, schoolteacher commits suicide

A 40-year-old government teacher Barinder Singh, who was booked last month for allegedly buying a moblile phone for a girl student of Government Senior Secondary School in Bharatgarh village of Rupnagar, committed suicide on Friday at his sister’s house in Piplanwala locality.

He was transferred to Senior Secondary School, Hajipur, after the complaint last month but when an FIR was registered against him and another teacher, under Section 354-A (sexual harassment), 354D (following a woman and contacting, or attempting to contact woman to foster personal interaction) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he had gone on leave.

When his sister Surinder Kaur, also a teacher in a local school, returned home in the evening, she found Barinder hanging from the ceiling, said police.

Kaur told the Model Town police that her brother was under deep mental stress. The police have kept the body in civil hospital’s mortuary, where a post mortem will be conducted on Saturday.

Model Town station house officer Bharat Masih said further action will be taken after recording the statement of the victim’s kin.

Hajipur school principal Sanjiv Kumar said Barinder, a vocational teacher, had taken earned leave till December 10. He was not aware of the case until Rupnagar police came searching for him, he added.

The teacher’s suicide has sent shock waves in the fraternity. Government Teacher’s Union general secretary Amandip Sharma condoled his death.