India rape girl accuses teachers

Two teachers have been arrested and seven others suspended after a girl was allegedly raped in a government-run school in India's Haryana state.

The father of the teenage girl approached the authorities after discovering she was pregnant.

The girl, who studied in the school in a village in the state's Jind district, alleged she had been raped by two of her teachers.

The two teachers who have been accused have denied the allegation.

The Jind district commissioner, MP Bansal, told the BBC charges of rape had been filed against the two teachers.

"We took action after getting a written complaint from the girl's father," he said.

Social stigma

He said the school authorities had decided to suspend seven others for apparently failing to report the rape or prevent it from taking place.

The two arrested teachers have also been suspended.

Reports in the Indian media suggested several other girls had come forward with allegations of sexual harassment but this has been strongly rejected by the authorities.

"There were no other complaints," said Mr Bansal.

But villagers have demanded all male teachers at the school be replaced by women and have threatened to force the school to close unless their demands are met.

Women's groups say India's poor rate of conviction and lengthy trial process deters many rape victims from coming forward to testify, especially because they fear the social stigma.