Bengaluru police are on the look-out for a physical education teacher, who had allegedly raped a minor girl over past nine months.

Times of India reported that the physical education (PE) teacher of a private school allegedly repeatedly raped a class 9 student, Maya (name changed) over the last nine months. The incident came to light when the victims’s friend, to whom she had confessed, informed Maya’s parents.

The accused, 40-year-old Lakshmikanth, who had been with the school for 8 years was suspended by the school authorities last week on hearing the news. Though there was confusion on who should file the complaint - victim’s parents or school authorities, the latter lodged a complaint with Jalahalli police on Tuesday, reported Times of India.

The police filed an FIR immediately but when they went to look for the teacher, he had already left town along with his wife and two children, reported TOI.

Child Protection Committee has been informed and a case of aggravated penetrative assault has been filed under the POCSO Act.

DCP (North) TR Suresh said that the school authorities allege that the girl had been raped between February and November 2015, but not in the school premises. “He would take her home and rape her. He also met her outside school on various occasions,” he said.

The accused allegedly threatened the girl not to tell anyone.

School authorities said, “Many students we spoke to said the teacher had misbehaved with them too and they did not want him to continue teaching in the school. The students were willing to give this in writing and we approached the police based on Pocso Act which mandates that police be informed when cases of child sexual abuse are reported.”

This is an aggregated report from Times of India