DADU: Police arrested a primary schoolteacher posted in a village near Jhol town in Sanghar district on Tuesday on charges of raping a girl student of class fifth.

Jhol police registered an FIR against the teacher under Section 338-A (Punishment for Isqat-i-haml) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother.

Sanghar SSP Aijaz Ahmed Shaikh told Dawn that police had the 14-year-old victim checked up at a government hospital in Jhol. According to preliminary medical report, the victim was raped, he said.

He said that the victim’s parents had complained to him that their daughter had become pregnant after the assault by the teacher.

He said that Jhol DSP Long Khan Shar had been deputed to investigate the crime and look into all its possible angles.

A spokesman of Sanghar district police said in a press release that the victim was safe under police protection at her home and was also undergoing treatment.

A spokesman for Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that the minister was shocked at the incident and issued orders to suspend the teacher.

He had asked director of education Shaheed Benazirabad to submit to him a report and warned he would not tolerate such incidents under any circumstances, said the spokesman.

The minister said if the allegations of rape were proved, the teacher would be fired and further action would also be taken. He also directed secretary of school education to supervise the inquiry himself.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2024