Pune: Cantonment Court Sentences Vice-Principal to Three Years for Molesting Teacher

Pune, 2nd August 2024: Pune’s Cantonment Court has sentenced a vice-principal who molested a teacher to two years of simple imprisonment and one year of rigorous imprisonment. Associate First Class Judicial Magistrate S.H. Atkare issued the orders. The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 15,000 on the vice-principal.

The convicted vice-principal is Suresh Pandurang Sawant, a resident of Hadapsar. The incident took place in July 2017 at a school in Manjari. A teacher had filed a complaint at the Hadapsar Police Station. Suresh Sawant, the vice-principal of the school, repeatedly called the teacher to his office on various pretexts and behaved obscenely towards her. On 17th July 2017, he called the teacher to his office under the guise of helping her and then sexually assaulted her, as stated in the complaint.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Anjala Navgire appeared in this case. The testimony of five witnesses was recorded by the prosecution, with two witnesses deposing during the trial. Considering the teacher’s testimony and the arguments presented by the government lawyers, the court sentenced Sawant. The court ordered that the fine be paid to the teacher as compensation. The crime was investigated by police officer Supriya Gawde.