The play school teacher convicted in child abuse case has been granted the suspension of the sentence to appeal in the High Court against the order of the Children’s court. According to the sources, the law has a provision for suspension of the sentence if the convicted desires to appeal in the superior courts. The president of the child court Vandana Tendulkar has allowed the application of the accused of the suspension of the jail term for the period of one month to make her enable her to appeal in the Higher court.
According to the sources, The Children’s Court has allowed a convicted teacher’s plea seeking suspension of one-year jail term in a criminal case of physical and psychological abuse on a child. The lawyer of the convicted play school teacher had applied for the suspension of a one-year jail term to which the president of children court Vandana Tendulkar has granted the permission, said the sources.
It may be recalled that the plays school teacher Ms. Eliza Fernandes was convicted by children’s court for physical and psychological abuse of a two and half-year-old child. The teacher sentenced to one-year simple imprisonment for the offense had submitted the application to contest the juvenile court’s order in the High Court of Bombay at Goa. “Lawyer for the accused applied for suspension of the sentence (in the Children’s Court) to appeal to the High Court,” Advocate Rohan Desai, who assisted public prosecutor N Marathe during the trial told Herald.
According to the sources, the children’s court has granted the 30 days leave to the accused from the sentence to file an appeal in the higher court. A senior police officer said that the teacher has not yet surrendered. In an order pronounced on January 31, Children’s Court President Vandana Tendulkar had sentenced the teacher to one year in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh for ‘physically and psychologically abusing’ a two and half-year-old pre-schooler in 2012. According to the indictment, the teacher subjected the boy to corporal punishment by slapping him on his face and hands, twisting his ears and pinching on his legs.
“When a crime is committed, it is not only against the individual victim but also against the society. Specifically, when the crime is against the ‘child’… The act of the accused is sufficient to create a scar in his mind for the lifetime,” states the order. Pronouncing the order, the President also observed that teaching being a noble profession the teacher has breached the trust of the child in her care, as well as that of his parents.
The next step, in this case, will be the admission of the case in High Court and the high court will now decide the fate of the teacher based on the submissions of the lawyer of accused in front of High Court judges. According to the sources, the matter can go up to supreme court before the accused finally gets convicted or evicted.
