A 23-year-old physical education teacher was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting four girls at a civic school in the eastern suburb of Vikhroli, Mumbai, police said.

The accused allegedly sexually assaulted four girls, in the age group of six to seven years, at a school run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Tagore Nagar locality, an official said.

The matter came to light when a Class 2 student complained about the assault to her parents, he said.

The child’s parents reached the school in the morning and told others about the assault. Angry parents beat up the accused outside the school, the official said.

The police were subsequently called in and the accused was taken into custody, he said.

Based on the complaint lodged by the parents, a case under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, has been registered against the accused, the official said.

Preliminary probe has revealed the teacher had allegedly molested some other girls in the school as well. He was earlier employed with a school in neighbouring Thane district, from where he was removed because of a similar incident, he added.