Acquitted in rape case & reinstated, Dang govt school teacher transferred after protests

On the basis of the court’s acquittal order, he submitted an application to the Dang District Education Office and requested that he be reinstated. After getting an approval letter from the State Education Department office in Gandhinagar, he was told to join duty on Monday (February 2, 2026).

On Monday, as he reached the school, the students were shocked and many of them complained to their parents after reaching home in the evening. On Tuesday, several parents did not send their children to school.

Local residents, led by the village sarpanch, handed over a memorandum to the District Education Officer of Dang, Vijay Deshmukh, and demanded that the teacher be transferred to another school. The villagers also said they would not send their students to the school until their demand is met.

On Wednesday, a large number of students again remained absent from their regular classes. The DEO, Vijay Deshmukh, on Wednesday transferred the teacher to another primary school, around 20 km away.

DEO Deshmukh said, “He (teacher) visited our school after his acquittal and applied to be reinstated. We forwarded his application to the Education Department, Gandhinagar, with the court order. Last week, we received a letter from the Department, directing us to reinstate him.”

He added, “After complaints from parents, we decided to transfer the teacher to another school so that the studies of students would not be affected.”

The village sarpanch said, “We are happy with the action taken. From Thursday, the students will regularly attend their classes in the school.”

According to the complaint that was earlier filed, the alleged crime took place in February 2024. It alleged that the teacher took the victim, a hostel resident, to another room where he raped her and threatened her not to tell anyone. The teacher was subsequently arrested and sent to jail. The police filed a chargesheet in April 2024 and the charges were framed in August. He was later released on bail.

On September 11, 2024, the Additional Session Court of Judge P A Parmar acquitted the teacher of charges of rape and other IPC sections, stating that “due to lack of evidence, the statements of the victim do not support the complaint.” The court order also mentioned that the statements of seven witnesses in the case “do not support the allegations made in the police complaint.”