Coimbatore, Nov 12 (PTI): A 17-year-old girl died by suicide months after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by her teacher, sparking off a protest here on Friday by schoolmates, women and political organisations, police said.

Also Read | Gayatri Prajapati, Former UP Minister, Gets Life Term For Rape.

Also Read | Telangana: Suryapet Cop Transferred For Alleged Torture of Tribal Youth.

According to the police, the alleged assault occured last April when the teacher had called the girl to school in the name of special classes since lessons were taken online owing to the pandemic.

The girl had complained to the school management but no action was taken. Later, the student left the school and joined another school nearby. Yet, she found it difficult to overcome the trauma of the assualt and took the extreme step on Thursday when her parents were away, the police said.

The suicide came to light after one of her friends tried to contact her and got no response. The friend informed her father and he rushed to the house only to find it bolted from the inside, the police said.

The father broke in and found the girl hanging from the ceiling. He took her to a hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead, the police said.

Hearing about the incident, members of AIDWA, SFI and Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhakam and other organisations staged a demonstration in front of the district Collectorate today demanding the immediate arrest of the teacher, they said.

Cases under IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and POCSO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences) Act have been registered and investigation has begun, they said.

The girl had left a suicide note the contents of which were not immediately made known, they added.

(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)