The Perambalur district administration has written to the Director of Prosecution, Chennai, expressing its displeasure over the handling of a case registered under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act by the Special Public Prosecutor of Mahila Court.
Based on a file forwarded by the police department, Collector V. Santha, in her capacity as the District Magistrate, had with reference to a particular case of a victim turning hostile, raised apprehensions about an array of acquittals in cases under POCSO Act, in recent months in the district, sources said.
Citing an audio recording of a conversation between Special Public Prosecutor Chithradevi and a 17-year-old victim, during the course of the trial, in which the former is heard exerting pressure on the latter not to pursue the case, the Collector had sought necessary action. The case pertains to the rescue of the girl from a child marriage in 2017. The accused, Sivabalu, was booked under POCSO Act. The Special Public Prosecutor is alleged to have attempted to browbeat the girl into accepting that she too was at fault.
Denying the charge, Ms. Chitradevi said the case should have been registered against the accused under Sections 366 A and Child Marriage Prohibition Act, and that the police had “unnecessarily” included the POCSO Act.
The victim had, from the outset, been denying any physical assault.