The Human Rights Commission recently held two police sub -inspectors guilty to handle a case of group violation of a younger girl carelessly and harassing her mother. The Commission slapped a fine of ₹ 50,000 in each of them to recover from their salaries and to be paid to the girl as compensation.
The two, together with the station in charge, were guilty of violating the Pocso Law, 2012, but the charges against the inspector have been retired. The survivor, about 13 years old, lived with his paternal grandmother in the limits of the Chelur Police Station in Basepalli, Chikkaballapura district, while his mother worked in Bengaluru in a private company.
The incident occurred in January 2023 when two children, both youthful and related to the girl, impregnated her. The grandmother, who came to know the incident, turned her into the hospital in February for an abortion without informing the mother or the police.
The mother who got to know the incident hurried to the hospital, created a fuss and took the girl to the police station to file a complaint. The Psi Harish and Papanna, who despite receiving the complaint were delayed in the FIR registry and also kept the survivor throughout the day on the pretext of the investigation, SHRC has now found.
The mother was sent back, asking her to come the next day, after which she registered in a lodge near the police station. Just although it was a case of Pocso, violating the guidelines, the next day, the two PSI summoned the defendants to the station and conducted an investigation of both the survivor and the defendant face to face with a complete uniform. The two officers summoned the members of the defendant’s family, threatened and humiliated the plaintiff forcing her to withdraw the complaint.
A FIR was recorded only after the case was taken to notification of his elders. Only due to persistent monitoring, the police finally registered the FIR, arrested the defendant and sent them to the state house for children, said Shrc. Even the inspector did not follow the due diligence and admitted the girl in a private hospital during the night instead of sending her to the Government’s house and obtaining her medical examination, she observed.
Unable to withstand harassment, the girl’s mother filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of the State of Karnataka. Taking the knowledge of the case, SHRC officials verified the records and interrogated the accused to register his statements. The investigation determined that despite the strict guidelines of the Superior Court of Karnataka on the management of cases of the Pocso Law, the accused officials violated the guidelines at all levels to help the defendants and their relatives.
Taking the knowledge of this consultation report, SHRC discovered that the two officials blame and slapped a fine of ₹ 50,000 in PSI Papenna, which retired from the service and Harish, which currently serves at the Chelur Police station, to be recovered from their salaries. The commission has also recommended carrying out departmental investigation to obtain more measures against the culprit.
Published – April 18, 2025 09:56 PM IST