The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a schoolgirl after finding that the Greater Chennai Police had violated procedures under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act while holding investigations. The court slammed the police for being insensitive to the nature of the offence, ill-treatment of the victim, beating up of her parents by a woman inspector, and delay in arresting the accused, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
A division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam ordered the CBI probe while disposing of a suo motu case and a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by the mother of the nine-and-a-half-year-old Class 5 girl.
Commenting that the manner in which the criminal case was registered and the conduct of the investigation raised "serious doubts and suspicion", the bench said the court endorses the contentions of the victim of having lost confidence in the police. "We have no option but to transfer the investigation to the CBI," the bench said.
Remarking that the court cannot conduct a "roving inquiry" with regard to the disputed facts placed by the victim and prosecution sides, the bench said, "We have arrived at an irresistible conclusion that the entire case is to be transferred to the CBI for continuing the investigation and initiate all appropriate action in the manner known to law."
The bench said the police had violated the procedures of the Pocso Act, particularly Section 24, and it severely criticised the police for recording the victim’s statement by keeping her near the hospital in the absence of her mother and not arresting the accused even after the accident register (AR) of the hospital had the person’s details.
Referring to State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah’s submission that separate FIRs have been registered against YouTuber Maridhas and journalist A Selvaraj for sharing the victim’s audio on social media, the bench said the police should find out the root cause for the audio leak and arrest the person who disclosed and shared it, stated The New Indian Express report.
The registration of cases against YouTubers and journalists is not in consonance with the democratic principles enunciated in the Constitution, the judges said. Also, the bench questioned why the woman inspector who had recorded the audio was not booked in the case.
Further, the court ordered the police to provide protection to the victim and her family. Advocate R Sampath Kumar appeared for the victim’s mother.
