MUMBAI, July 2 -- The English language teacher of one of Mumbai's best-known schools was arrested on Saturday under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on charges of sexually assaulting one of her students on multiple occasions. These assaults spanned a little over a year, said cops. The 40-year-old teacher, who is married with children of her own, taught the 16-year-old Class 11 student. The complaint says that she became attracted to him during their various meetings to set up dance groups for the high school annual function in December 2023 and made her first sexual overtures in January 2024. The boy was initially reluctant, and began avoiding her. The teacher then roped in one of her female friends-- who is not from the school-- to call him and intercede on her behalf. The friend who has also been booked, allegedly told the minor that relationships between older women and teenage boys had "become quite common." "She also told the student that the teacher and he were made for each other," said a police officer close to the investigation. After the friend's telephone call, the student decided to meet the teacher. "She picked him up in her sedan, took him to an isolated spot and forcefully undressed him and assaulted him," one of the police officers told HT. "Over the next few days when the student developed acute anxiety, she even gave him some anti-anxiety pills." That sedan has since been seized by the police. Subsequently, the teacher also began taking him out to various five-star hotels in south Mumbai and near the airport where they embarked on a series of sexual encounters. She would also often get him drunk before their encounters, added the cops. The arrest of the teacher who has been remanded to police custody until Wednesday, has stunned the school that counts some of Mumbai's most celebrated names among its alumni. Several months after this started, the student's family noticed a change in his behaviour and spoke to him about it, which is when he allegedly told them about the abuse. However, the family thought that given he had just a few months to go before he passed out of school, they decided to keep quiet about it, hoping the teacher would leave him alone. Earlier this year, the boy passed his Board exams and left the school but sank into depression, said the police. Matters came to a head when the teacher again tried to contact him through one of his domestic staff, asking him to meet her. "That's when the family decided to approach us and file a case," said the officer. "We have registered a case under sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 17 (abetment of offences) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and various sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015," said the police officer....