In Chennai, a 13-year-old girl rang the childline helpline to complain that the Thirumangalam all-women police are yet to arrest her stepfather for assaulting her sexually despite FIR being registered against him three months ago. This 20-minute audio clip of the call went viral on November 16. In the clip, the victim can be heard giving a detailed explanation about how it was in August that the police had booked her stepfather but the arrest is yet to happen. The victim is a student who studies in a private school in Chennai.
A senior police officer informed that the accused is at large. It was in the year 2013 that the victim's father died of tuberculosis and it was in 2019 that the victim's mother married the accused, but the marriage is yet to be registered. Allegedly, it's since August 2020 that the accused has been abusing the girl and has even threatened to leave the family if she spoke out about the abuse.
It was only a few months ago that the victim's mother learnt that her second husband has been living with another woman since he stopped visiting them sometime in March. It was around this time that the victim informed her mother about the sexual assault. Based on the complaint, the Thirumangalam all-women police registered a case under the POCSO Act. This happened in August.
In September, the victim's mother has submitted a petition at the city police commissionerate stating that since she did not possess Rs 5,000 to bribe the inspector, for a few days, she was made to sweep the station.
It was after learning about the Coimbatore sexual harassment case on TV that the victim called the child helpline. A police official informed that soon, the accused will be arrested.
