Mumbai, 2 July

A 40-year-old woman teacher from a prominent school in Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old male student, a police official said on Wednesday.

The English language teacher, who is married, took the minor to luxury hotels where she allegedly abused him, the official said.

The woman, who was taken into custody last week, was so obsessed with the minor that she tried to contact him even after he passed out of school this year, police said.

According to the police official, the accused became attracted to her student during various meetings in connection with the school’s annual function in December 2023. She allegedly made her first sexual advance in January 2024.

Police said a friend of the accused encouraged the then Class 10 boy to accept the illegal relationship, saying that affairs between older women and teenage boys had become quite common nowadays.

The friend, who is also booked, would say that the woman teacher and the boy were “made for teacher”, the official said, citing the FIR.

Soon after the accused teacher started taking the teenager to expensive hotels to sexually assault him, the student developed acute anxiety. She then allegedly gave him some anti-anxiety pills, the official said.

The teacher would also often allegedly get the boy drunk before abusing him.

The boy’s family learnt about the exploitation after they noticed a change in his behaviour. However, they kept quiet, thinking he would finish school in a few months and the matter would end, the official said.

The boy cleared his Class 10 exam a few months ago and left the school, but slipped into depression, said the official.

His family decided to speak up when the accused again sent the boy a message, through their domestic staff, to meet her, the official said.

The woman teacher has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice Act, the official added.