Agartala, Sept. 11: A sex scandal has surfaced in Sabroom subdivision of Tripura, but the accused is absconding.

Jagadish Debnath, assistant teacher of Sindhuk Pathar High School, has been charged with impregnating a student of his school. She gave birth to a child on Tuesday. Cases have been filed against the 40-year-old teacher with police and in court.

Official sources in Sabroom said the resident of Satchand village near the town had developed an illicit relationship with a 15-year-old student of class VIII of the school nearly a year ago. Debnath would take the girl to his rented house on the pretext of private tuition and rape her regularly.

The girl’s mother, Pratima Das, a neighbour of Jagadish Debnath and an elected member of Sindhuk Pathar panchayat, caught the teacher in a compromising position with her daughter early last month.

Pratima Das brought the matter to the notice of the panchayat and demanded compensation to the tune of Rs 1 lakh from the teacher. However, Debnath refused to accept the panchayat’s judgment, saying he would pay only Rs 10,000.

Das then registered a complaint with the police against Debnath and filed a compensation suit in court. Debnath has been absconding since then.