Patna: The special Pocso court on Friday sentenced Indu Anand and Nutan Joseph, former teachers of St Xavier's High School, to rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a kindergarten student.

Special Pocso judge Ravindra Nath Tripathi sentenced Nutan Joseph, 36, to 10 years' and seven years' rigorous imprisonment under sections 6 and 4 of Pocso Act respectively and five years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Indu Anand, 45, was sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 4 of Pocso Act and five years under Section 377.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on both convicts, failing which they would have to serve three more months. All the sentences will run concurrently.

The former teachers were arrested on November 5, 2016.

The sexual assault of the four-year-old girl had come to light on October 27, when she complained to her mother about pain and uneasiness in her private parts. She told her mother that the two accused teachers - whom she referred to as "Badi miss" and "Choti miss" - used to take her to a closed room and sexually assault her there.

Women's police station lodged an FIR against the accused on November 3. The chargesheet was submitted on January 30, 2017.

Special public prosecutor Suresh Chandra Prasad told the court that the accused assaulted the girl in a closed room and she had told her mother about it after a lot of persuasion.

He said such an act was only possible if somebody kept watch outside.

District Legal Service Authority, Patna, had also provided a panel advocate to the survivor. Anpurna Gupta, the panel advocate, told The Telegraph that Nutan would sexually assault the kindergarten student and Indu would watch. They always gave the girl medicine and injection. Once the girl's mother came to know about the incident, she went to meet the school principal but the principal was not willing to meet, she added.