Vadodara: Teacher gets life term for raping Class XII student

VADODARA: A former teacher at a private school was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment which can be extended to life on Wednesday for raping a Class XII student for three months in 2018 under the pretext of giving her good marks in exam. Quoting Benjamin Franklin, the court observed: “Law too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.”
Keeping in view of the teacher’s perverted mindset, the court of special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) judge G D Pasi ruled that suitable punishment has to be given to teacher Vinu Katariya, also a father of two kids, so that he cannot target girl students again after coming out of jail.
To explain the significance of the judgement and the importance of sentencing, the court also quoted another founding father of the USA – Alexander Hamilton, stating “Laws are a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning and operation … I think the first duty of society is justice.”
Katariya had not only raped the minor girl, but also recorded a video of his act and blackmailed her into submitting to his perverted demands using it.
The girl, who was then 17-year-old, was taken to hotels in Ahmedabad, Surat and Padra and raped thrice between January and March 2018.
A student of science stream, the girl used to go for tuitions to Katariya’s house on Kalali Road. He raped her by promising good marks in exam when she was Class XI. Katariya also used to video record the time they spent together and begun blackmailing her.
Katariya used to threaten to make the video public if she did not give in to his demands.
During the trial, the additional public prosecutor H R Joshi submitted evidence against Katariya and also examined witnesses, including the managers of the hotels where the convict took her, who deposed against the teacher.
The court upheld the evidence and their deposition to convict the 42-year-old teacher and sent him to rigorous life imprisonment. Katariya has also been fined of Rs 13,000 by the court.