A minor girl, a student of Class 10, died by suicide at her house in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi district on Thursday, after she was allegedly sexually harassed by a male teacher attached to her school, the police said on Friday. The incident has kicked up a row and has renewed political sparring over the state’s handling of crimes against women and children.

Accused teacher arrested under POCSO Act

The accused teacher, identified as Jagadesan, was arrested by police under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. As per police, earlier too, he had faced complaints of ‘inappropriate behaviour.’ They added that a probe into the recent incident is currently underway.

A senior police official told the media that according to preliminary findings, the teacher had touched the girl inappropriately. He said, “The teacher had touched her inappropriately, bad touch; that's what we have confirmed,” adding that police were examining both the circumstances behind the girl’s suicide and the allegations against the teacher in detail.

Incident leaves Tamil Nadu politically charged

The incident has unfolded at a politically charged moment, as the Opposition has been accusing the state government of presiding over a deterioration in law and order. Critics have pointed to a spike in crimes, including murders, offences against women, custodial deaths and honour killings, as evidence of a deteriorating security climate.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) of Tamil Nadu, Udhayanidhi Stalin, has emerged as one of the most vocal critics. He has repeatedly been questioning the government’s ability to manage the situation.

Responding to the said criticisms during the Demand for Grants debate in the Assembly, state Chief Minister (CM) C Joseph Vijay pushed back, arguing that not every crime could automatically be labelled a failure of law-and-order. He said a shift in perspective was the need of the hour and reaffirmed that his government’s central focus remained preventing crime and ensuring offenders faced justice.

The CM added that not all criminal incidents could fairly be pinned on the first 100 days of his administration, placing blame instead on the previous DMK government for what he called ‘a failure’ to curb drug abuse in the state.