The Karnataka high court has declined to quash a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences case against a school teacher accused of recording videos of girl students while they were changing clothes.
The accused, employed at a residential school for children from backward communities in Kolar district, is facing charges of sexual harassment under the POCSO Act.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, in a recent ruling, described the teacher's actions as horrendous and highlighted the severity of the charges.
The teacher was arrested in December 2023 after authorities discovered he had allegedly used mobile phones to secretly record the students.
"What is deeply concerning is that the petitioner was found with five different mobile phones, all of which were seized and sent for forensic examination," the court observed.
"Each device contained approximately 1,000 images and several hundred videos."
The teacher approached the court, arguing that his actions did not constitute sexual harassment under the POCSO Act.
The high court rejected this claim, asserting that filming children in such a manner clearly falls under the definition of sexual harassment as outlined in the Act. -- PTI