The attendance in a Government school of Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur's Dadraul block, has dropped as a teacher has been arrested for sexually assaulting 15 students.

Reportedly, the accused, a computer instructor, Mohammad Ali, had been sexually assaulting minor girls in the school with the support of the headmaster Anil Kumar and assistant teacher, Sajia, both have been booked in this connection.

According to the Police, the three accused have been booked under sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the IPC and the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

Among the students were also students belonging to the Dalit community who were allegedly molested by Mohammad Ali, Circle Officer (Tilhar) Priyank Jain told PTI.

The CO further informed that, initially, some girls complained about this to Headmaster Kumar but he did not take any action.

Then a FIR was lodged by the village head Lalta Prasad stating that Sajia was also involved in this matter and on Saturday another Dalit student was molested by Ali, after which the students went to their homes and informed their families about it.

After the matter came to light on May 13, angry villagers created a ruckus and started protesting.

The parents said that the sexual assault would have continued had their girls not opened up.

Speaking on the incident, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Kumar Gaurav said: "Of the 112 students, including 50 girls, only 35 per cent of the students turned up on Monday. This is obviously because both parents and students, particularly girls, are scared to come to the school after what happened with those 13 girls.

"The department will ensure counselling of students and parents because unless we are able to rebuild confidence among them, the student turnout will not improve. We will have to sensitise our teachers too. Simultaneously, we are trying to address the issue and strong action will be taken against the guilty."

Similarly, gram pradhan Rampal said: "The incident has dented the confidence of parents. We all consider educational institutions to be a safe place for students but unfortunately, a few teachers have brought shame to the school and hence, parents are reluctant to send their wards."

A parent said: "Some of the girls who went through this horrible incident are reluctant to come to the school anytime soon. The misconduct of the teacher has left them scarred. It will take some time for them to overcome."

Meanwhile, Director-General, school education, Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Kiran Anand, said: "To check such incidents, all 746 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in Uttar Pradesh will soon have an all-women staff. Contracts of all existing male staff working in these schools functioning in all 75 districts of the state will not be renewed. He said this step had been taken for the safety of girl students studying in these residential schools offering residential education from classes 6 to 8."

State minister Baldev Singh Aulakh has also assured strict action against the accused in the case. "Action will be taken against all those involved as per the law. If teachers are involved in such cases, they will be thrown out of the school accordingly."

With inputs from Free Press Journal.