Shimla, May 3 -- A POCSO court in Shimla has sentenced a 46-year-old government teacher to six years in jail for molesting a Class 11 student.

The convict, Jai Prakash, alias JP, was serving as an English lecturer in a Shimla government school.

".the convict, being a teacher, was in a position of trust and authority vis-a-vis the victim, who was a minor student of the convict. The act attributed to the convict is not only morally reprehensible but also amounts to gross abuse of the fiduciary relationship between a teacher and a student. Such conduct has a deep and lasting impact on the psyche of a young victim and undermines the sense of safety and trust within the educational institutions. The offence, therefore, assumes a serious char...