Alleged assault of POCSO Act victim’s parents | Madras High Court directs police to respond

Madras High Court orders response from Chennai Police regarding alleged assault on parents of sexual assault victim.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Greater Chennai City Police to respond to the allegation of Anna Nagar All Women Police Station (AWPS) Inspector Raji having assaulted the parents of a 10-year-old girl subjected to sexual assault allegedly by her neighbour.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and N. Mala wanted the Anna Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Inspector, who had been impleaded in her personal capacity too in a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by the victim’s mother, to file their response by September 24.

Though Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Thilak vehemently questioned the maintainability of the HCP when the victim was very much in the custody of her parents, the judges said, the issue of maintainability also could be raised in the counter affidavit of the respondents.

The petitioner’s counsel R. Sampath Kumar said, his client had suspected her minor daughter to have been abused sexually and therefore took her for medical examination to a nearby doctor on August 29. The examination confirmed her doubt and the doctor referred the victim to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.

Ms. Raji visited the hospital, recorded the petitioner’s statement and asked her to go to the police station where the suspect was already present. After a while, the Inspector too returned to the police station, assaulted the petitioner and snatched her phone for no reason, the counsel claimed.

He said, the Inspector had conducted an inquiry with the minor victim in the absence of her parents and detained the petitioner till 1 a.m. in the police station. The counsel alleged that the Inspector summoned the petitioner and her husband for inquiry on August 30 and attempted to hush up the entire issue.

Since the petitioner and her husband refused to enter into any kind of compromise with the suspect, the Inspector assaulted the victim’s father. A complaint in this regard was made to the Joint Commissioner of Police (South) as well as the Anna Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police, the lawyer added.