Internal probe initiated against Khadki police officials in Pune for delaying the filing of an FIR despite NGO’s complaint against man who sexually abused his 5-year-old child
The police’s insensitive approach in cases of sexual abuse of children came to the fore after an NGO registered a complaint against Khadki cops, who refused to believe that a father had molested his five-year-old daughter in their jurisdiction, and delayed the filing of an FIR.
Pic/Mohan Patil
Other than this, they violated several other norms of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, attracting a rap from senior police officers.
Manoj Patil, deputy commissioner of police (Zone IV), has initiated a departmental enquiry into the matter and said that action would be taken against erring officers if they were found guilty.
Besides disregarding the law, Khadki police unnecessarily delayed the arrest of the accused father. Only after DCP Patil intervened and instructed the Khadki police station in-charge to take necessary action did the cops register a case on March 17, and the accused father was arrested on March 24.
Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe, director of Childline NGO, which took up the abused child’s cause, said, “The Khadki case is just an example of the general insensitiveness of police officers and staff at police station and chowkies. The Khadki police inspector was just not accepting the fact that a father could sexually abuse his daughter, even after we cited many such cases reported earlier in the city and elsewhere.”
The incident occurred on March 14, after which the girl told her grandmother, who then sought the NGO’s help. The NGO approached the police on March 16, but the cops were reluctant to lodge a complaint until the DCP stepped up and issued an order the next day.
Section 19(6) in Chapter 5 of POCSO Act clearly states that the local police should report such grave offences to the Child Welfare Committee and the special or sessions court within a period of 24 hours, Sahasrabuddhe said.
In their defence, Khadki police station officials said, “The girl’s mother works in a call centre. When the girl’s mother was not at home, her father used to bathe her. On what basis should we make arrests in this case?”
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