NRI
teacher charged raping a former male student
New York, Nov. 01, 2005
Ramesh Agarwal
NRI, (non-resident Indian) female teacher was charged
yesterday with sodomizing and raping a former male
student who is now a New York City cop.
Lina Sinha, 38, began the relationship in 1996 when
the boy was 13 and continued it until he was 17. Sinha
was a 29-year-old teacher at the Montessori School
of New York on E. 55th St. that was started by her
parents.
In New York, her family owns several businesses a
spice shop and travel business. NRI who knows the
family cannot believe the allegations. Her lawyer
said, in January, when Sinha filed an assault complaint
against the cop with police Internal Affairs officers
in The Bronx. Sinha claimed that the cop left her
battered and bruised. Some beleive that it is retaliation.
Read Full Story
New York, Nov. 01, 2005
New York Post
A 38-year-old female teaching director
at an East Side Montessori school was having sex with
a 13-year-old male former student — right in
the school's building and van, according to sensational
new charges.
The sordid alleged affair began nine years ago, but
came to light only recently, when the victim —
now a New York City cop — came forward just days
before his 23rd birthday, which is the statute-of-limitations
deadline for juvenile rape cases.
Lina Sinha spent 27 hours in custody before being
charged yesterday with statutory rape and sodomy,
which carry a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
Manhattan prosecutors say Sinha was 29 years old
when she began the sick affair in 1996 and that it
ended sometime after the boy turned 17 and graduated
from a different school.
The pair met at the Montessori School, at 347 E.
55th St., where Sinha has worked for 16 years. They
trysted numerous times in the school van and in an
apartment in the school, prosecutors said.
"It began with oral sex," Assistant District
Attorney Florence Chapin told a judge at Sinha's arraignment
yesterday, "as well as sexual intercourse at
the age of 15."
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Shawndya Simpson —
noting the age of the charges — appeared skeptical
of the strength of the case, which is further complicated
by allegations from the teacher that the cop beat
her up during a quarrel in January.
In allowing Sinha, who lives on East 72nd Street,
to be released on her own recognizance yesterday,
the judge denied the DA's request for $15,000 bail.
The judge also denied lead prosecutor Florence Chapin's
request for an order of protection barring Sinha from
having any contact with the victim.
Sinha's lawyer, Henry Mazurek, insists that while
Sinha and the cop have known each other for years,
the pair never had sex. She remains on the school
staff, as both an administrator and teacher, and has
the administration's "100 percent support,"
he said.
The pair's platonic relationship soured, the lawyer
said, in January, when Sinha filed an assault complaint
against the cop with police Internal Affairs officers
in The Bronx. Sinha claimed that the cop left her
battered and bruised.
"Because he was being investigated, he could
have lost his job," Mazurek said. "I would
say it's retaliation," he said of the charges.
A spokeswoman for the DA's office, which also looked
into Sinha's battering charges against the cop, said
yesterday, "They were fully investigated, and
we believe they are wholly without merit."
