Varanasi POCSO Court Sentences Coaching Teacher to 10 Years for 2018 Attempted Abuse

A special POCSO court in Varanasi has sentenced a coaching teacher to 10 years in prison for attempting to sexually abuse a 13-year-old boy who came to him for tuition in 2018.

The court of Special Judge (POCSO Act) Alok Kumar found Chandra Bhushan Singh guilty and also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on him. The court directed that 70 per cent of the fine be paid to the survivor.

The case goes back almost eight years. According to the prosecution, the boy's father, a resident of the Cholapur area, lodged an FIR at the police station on 15 October 2018.

In the complaint, he said his 13-year-old son had gone to the coaching class at around 3 pm on the day of the incident. Singh taught the boy there. After the child returned home from the class, he told his family what had happened.

According to the prosecution, the boy told his parents that the teacher had tried to commit a wrongful act with him during the coaching session. The family then informed the police, and an FIR was registered against Singh on the father's complaint. Police took up the investigation on the basis of that complaint, and the case eventually went to trial before the special court.

The conviction was under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which covers attempts to commit sexual offences against children as well as the offences themselves. Cases under the Act are tried by designated special courts.

Singh can challenge the conviction and sentence before a higher court.

Two parts of the order stand out. The first is the compensation. The court has not left the fine to go entirely to the state; it has directed that most of it, ₹70,000 of the ₹1 lakh, be paid to the boy. The second is how long the case took. The FIR was lodged in October 2018, and the verdict has come in September 2026.

The POCSO Act requires that a child's identity be protected throughout. Dalimss News is not publishing the survivor's name, village or any other detail that could identify him or his family, beyond the police station area named in court records.

The Act also makes reporting mandatory. Anyone who knows that a child has been sexually abused, or fears it is likely, is legally bound to inform the police or the special juvenile police unit. Complaints can be made at any police station, on the 112 emergency number, or through the Childline helpline on 1098, which works round the clock.

In this case, the boy spoke up at home the same day, and his family went to the police.