Mumbai: CCTV clips help eight get all-clear in Pocso case

MUMBAI: Eight persons, including the woman principal, teachers and peons of a city school, have got a clean chit in the case of sexual harassment of a student, with special Pocso judge Bharti Kale saying, "The Pocso Act has been enacted for the special reason to protect children from sexual assault and its misuse cannot be permitted." Four of the accused were women.
Accepting the police's B-summary report closing the case in which the father of the student had falsely claimed that she was sexually assaulted by them in the principal's office when she went to collect her transfer certificate, the court observed "one shudders to think that if there was no CCTV footage, the accused would have been required to go through prosecution for serious offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Police must carry out thorough probe to rule out false implication of innocent people".
Ensure the innocent don’t have to face trial, affects whole life: Judge
C alling for thorough investigations, the judge said innocent people must not be made to go through an ordeal of trials and investigation as their whole life is affected mentally, physically and financially. The father had earlier filed several police complaints against the school authorities alleging corruption.
The judge further observed that the probe agency and courts have to be alert.
“The court has to safeguard the interests of all the parties involved to ensure that innocents are not harassed and the offenders are punished,” the judge observed. The court pointed out that the CCTV footage totally falsified the father’s case.
It said four of those accused were seen sitting or doing other activities during the time the alleged incident occurred. “The victim at no point of time can be seen being subjected to sexual assault.
The complainant has made very serious allegations against the principal, teachers and peons of the school. There was a background of earlier dispute. None of the witnesses has stated that the alleged incident occurred. Further, there is nothing found in the mobile of the respondent as alleged,” the judge said, adding that while the father may have grievances against the school, he should take recourse to due procedure to resolve them.
“I find that the police have collected proper material by carrying out thorough investigation and it does not appear that it was biased. I do not find any merits in the contention of the complainant (father) and in view of material on record,” the judge said.
The father had alleged that on June 27, 2018, when the child had gone to the female principal’s room, she sexually assaulted her. It was further alleged that the child screamed for help but no one came forward. The father also said the other accused too sexually abused her.
It was alleged that while a female teacher showed the girl obscene videos, another filmed her and she was then threatened by the principal.
The father went to cops on the same day and an FIR was registered. Police recorded the statements of the minor and others from the school. The minor was sent for medical examination.
Police told the court that from the statements, CCTV footage and other material, the complaint was false and a ‘B’ Summary was sought. A B Summary report is filed when police find a case to be false or when there is no evidence.
Seeking rejection of the B Summary report, the father filed a detailed reply contending that the police investigating the case were bribed, hence, a false probe was carried out.