Amritsar, Jan 5 (PTI) Police have booked a government primary school teacher in this Punjab district for allegedly sexually abusing three girls aged around 10 years, officials said on Friday.

The director of the Punjab school education department (primary) suspended the teacher during the day. The accused took off after the matter was reported to the school head and is on the run, they said.

Also Read | Telangana: Engineering Student Leaps to Her Death From Fifth Floor of Gitam University in Hyderabad (Watch Video).

SHO of Majitha police station Amolak Singh said the FIR was registered on Wednesday under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The school is located in a village in the Majitha area, he said.

Also Read | Tamil Nadu: Woman, Lover Kill Physiotherapist, Flee With Gold and Money in Coimbatore; Arrested.

The families of the minor girls have alleged that the accused often forced them to touch his private parts after placing a notebook on his lap in the classroom, according to the police officials.

The SHO said police teams have been dispatched to nab the man.

Police said the mothers of minor girls grew suspicious when they refused to go to school all of a sudden and on being questioned, they narrated the incident.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)