SHRC has committed two PSIs guilty of harassing the mother of a secondary rape victim

The incident occurred in January 2023 when two boys had sex with the girl. |Picture source: Getty Images/Istockphoto

The state human rights commission recently ruled that two deputy police inspectors were careless in handling a gang rape case of a minor girl and harassing their mother. The committee fined Rs 50,000 each of them and would be recycled from their salary and would be compensated for the girl.

The two and the station chief were charged with violating the POCSO Act of 2012, but the charges against inspectors have been dropped. Survivor is about 13 years old and lives with her grandmother within the scope of the Chelur police station in Bagepalli, Chikkaballapura area, while her mother works in Bengaluru, a private company.

The incident occurred in January 2023 when there were two boys, teenagers and girls related to them, making her dip her. The grandmother, who knew about the incident, took her to the hospital for an abortion in February without telling her mother or the police.

The mother, who knew about the incident, rushed to the hospital, causing a commotion and took the girl to the police station to file a complaint. SHRC has now found that Psis Harish and Papanna are still signing up for FIR despite the lawsuit received complaints that also delayed the FIR and kept survivors at the station all day using inquiries as an excuse.

The mother was sent back and asked her to come the next day, and she moved into a cabin near the police station. Even though this was a POCSO case, violating the guidelines, the next day, the two PSIs summoned the defendant to the station and questioned the survivor and the defendant in full uniform. Two officers summoned the defendant’s family, threatened and humiliated the complainant, forcing her to give up the complaint.

Registration is only carried out after the case is brought to the senior’s notice. The SHRC said that police finally registered for FIR, detained the defendant and sent him to the state boy’s residence only due to the ongoing follow-up. Its observations say even inspectors did not conduct due diligence and sent the girl to a private hospital overnight, rather than sending her to a government home for a girl’s examination and her physical examination.

The girl’s mother was unable to bear the harassment and filed a complaint with the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission. SHRC officials understood the case, verified the records, and questioned the defendant’s record of his statement. The investigation found that despite the strict guidelines for the Karnataka High Court on handling POCSO ACT cases, defendant officials violated these guidelines at all levels to help the defendant and his family.

Taking into account this investigation report, the SHRC found two officials guilty and was fined Rs 50,000 on PSI Papanna, which has retired and currently serving in the Chelur Police Department, will recover from its wages and benefits. The committee also recommends conducting departmental investigations to further target guilty actions.