A 17-year-old girl, who was at her Class 12, had on Thursday committed suicide by alleging that she was sexually harassed by a male teacher of her school. The police had filed a case under the POSCO Act against the accused teacher and retrieved the suicide note. The incident had happened in the Coimbatore district and the accused teacher was working at Chinmaya Vidyalaya School. 

According to reports, she was found dead by her father and a close friend and the girl's close circle including her parents and friends had alleged that she was living under mental stress for a long time after she faced sexual assault and repeated harassment by Mithun Chakravarthy. It was only after her death that the reason why she asked her parents to change the school came to light. 

It has been reported that the girl was facing sexual harassment from the teacher for over six months. Addressing the media, the girl's mother has said that her daughter had even complained to the school's principal about the sexual harassment and the latter had asked her not to inform her parents about the assault. The school had also arranged for counselling during which the school management had asked the girl not to take the harassment seriously.

The girl's mother further said that her daughter had asked to change the school repeatedly without revealing the reason that she was sexually harassed. The reports say that the teacher, Mithun Chakravarthy, had established a friendship with the girl over phone chats and he also had dropped her at her home once. A friend of the deceased girl has said that Chakravarthy had sexually harassed her multiple times and his wife, who works in the same school and the principal were aware of such harassment. However, no action was taken. 

At one time, the school management had promised the girl that Chakravarthy would be dismissed from the school. However, he wasn't dismissed. Her suicide had sparked outrage across the state and several unions- All India Democratic Association, Students' Federation of India, Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, and Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam had held protests on Friday outside the Coimbatore Collectorate demanding action against the teacher and the school. 

The protesters had urged to arrest the accused teacher under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and demanded stern action against the school. Amid the protests, All Women's Police Station in RS Puram, Coimbatore, which probes the case, has on Friday registered a case against the teacher under IPC section 306 - abetment of suicide and section 9(L) - whoever commits sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly of the POCSO Act.

The police had recovered the suicide note of the student in which she had mentioned the accused teacher and two others as the reason behind her death. On the other hand, the school principal had denied the allegations and claimed that the accused teacher Mithun Chakravarthy had resigned in September due to medical issues.