Surat: A 23-year-old teacher who had eloped with her 13-year-old student last week was traced by Pune Police early Wednesday. After a four-day-long search operation, the duo was located on a private bus near Shamlaji, close to the Rajasthan border, over 390 km from Surat.

Later, as the probe revealed that the teacher had allegedly  engaged in sexual acts with the minor, police booked her under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, a less common legal action against women. The teacher and the boy were found near Raigarh village.

The incident occurred on April 25, when the teacher and student—both living in the same society in the Magob area under the jurisdiction of Puna police station—went missing. CCTV footage revealed that the teacher and the student had run away together. After departing Surat on April 25th, both of them traveled to Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Delhi, and Vrindavan before their apprehension on a private bus near the Ratanpur border.

A senior police officer said, “They boarded a private bus from Jaipur and were caught near the Ratanpur border. Our investigation revealed that the teacher sexually abused the boy multiple times at various locations that they visited since April 25th.”

Puna police initially filed an abduction case based on the boy’s parents’ complaint. However, later sections 4, 8, and 12 of the POCSO Act have been added to the case against the teacher, along with section 127(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to Pune Police, the teacher’s mobile phone was switched off soon after she fled with the student, making it difficult to track their movements. CCTV footage from the railway station and bus terminal yielded no clues, prompting authorities to suspect the use of a private bus for travel. Investigators later discovered that the teacher had another mobile number, which was active and ultimately helped trace her location.

Following this lead, a four-member police team was dispatched and intercepted the private bus near Shamlaji around 4:00 am. The teacher and the student were taken into custody and brought back to Surat.

The teacher resided on the third floor of an apartment in Parvat Patiya, while the boy’s family lived on the second floor. The boy’s family is originally from Rajasthan, and the teacher is from Mehsana. She had been tutoring him for the past three years. DeshGujarat