New Delhi- Repeated sexual advances towards a minor student have landed a 37-year-old Mumbai college principal in police custody in the Borivali area under the stringent POSCO Act, an official said on Thursday. The MHB Colony Police have also slapped molestation charges on the principal who was allegedly making sexual advances towards the student for almost a year, the police official said.

The 17-year-old victim, a resident of south Mumbai’s Nagpada, initially put up with the harassment as she was afraid of social stigma, but approached the police when her harassment became unbearable, the police said. The accused was mounting pressure on her to enter into a romantic relationship, said an official, adding that the girl’s family members helped her file the police complaint. “The principal has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act along with charges of molestation and sexual harassment under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), with a maximum punishment of three years,” said an official.

Last April, a South Mumbai college’s 60-year-old treasurer was booked by Gamdevi Police for allegedly grabbing a student’s hands without her consent and pushing her during a meeting. The latest harassment the Borivali area case, has also refreshed memories of an earlier incident related to the Principal of Mithibai College, who was accused of sexually harassing a lecturer. The Tilak Nagar Police registered an FIR in the matter only after the victim approached the Prime Minister’s Office. Earlier in 2022, a Mumbai government college principal was booked for making casteist remarks against a student.

The principal was booked by the Azad Maidan police station under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. According to the complainant woman student from Palghar, the incident took place when she was sitting in her class with other classmates. The principal entered the classroom and humiliated her by referring to her tribal background, the complainant said. (IANS)