The Madurai District Court on Tuesday sentenced a former government school headmaster to 55 years in jail for sexually abusing 20 girls, The Hindu reported. The court fined S Arockiasamy Rs 12 lakh, which will be distributed among the students.

The convict is also accused of sexually abusing more than 90 other boys and girls of the school in Tamil Nadu’s Podhumbu village, some reports said.

Arockiasamy was given 25 years – five years each – under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for sexually abusing five students from the community. He was sentenced to 30 years – two years each – for sexually abusing the other 15 girls. These sentences will run consecutively.

The convict was given three years each under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and 10 years for criminal intimidation. However, these sentences will run concurrent to the 55-year term.

Three other teachers accused in the case were acquitted, reported The Times of India. C Amali Rose, Shanmuga Kumarasamy and Victor were charged with aiding and abetting Arockiasamy. The police had filed a case against the four after the mother of one of the girls who was abused filed a complaint in 2011.

“For a special court for cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, giving more than 50 years of imprisonment to a convict and making the convict pay a fine to his victims is a first in the country,” Public Prosecutor P Parimaladevi said.