Bombay High Court asks senior cops to supervise probe, file action taken report

(Representational)

Pointing out the failure of the police in arresting the accused in a child sexual abuse case registered six months back, the Bombay High Court Wednesday directed two senior officers of the Mumbai police to supervise the probe and file an action taken report. The mother of a three-year-old girl had alleged in her complaint that the girl was sexually abused and raped by two of her school staffers.

Expressing displeasure over the manner in which the police had conducted the probe so far, the court said there was "prima facie" evidence that the offence of rape and sexual abuse had been committed.

A Bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said that the failure of the police in arresting the accused six months since the complaint was lodged made it apparent that the police were trying to "shield the accused".

The court asked the assistant commissioner of police of Meghwadi police station, which is probing the incident, to head the investigations, and the deputy commissioner of police of the zone to supervise the probe and file an action taken report.

The Bench said: "This is shocking. Despite the incident having occurred in January 2017, and a formal police complaint having been registered by the victim's mother in May, the police are yet to complete the probe and arrest the accused."

"Do you realise how serious this case is? It is clear prima facie that you are trying to shield the accused. We are very surprised at the conduct of the police in this case," the Bench added.

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by the mother of the victim seeking that the probe be transferred to an independent agency alleging that the police were going easy on the accused.

The petition claimed that the girl was abused by a trustee of her school in Andheri and by one of her female teachers on repeated occasions between November 2016 and January 2017. However, the incident came to light only in May when the victim's mother noticed behavioral changes in the child. She had then filed a police complaint.