The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has ordered the Tamil Nadu Government to give a compensation of ₹9 lakh to a POCSO survivor, who was sexually assaulted by her neighbour and the neighbour’s friends in 2022.
In the order, Justice S. Manikumar, Chairperson, SHRC, directed the State government to collect the compensation from the then three inspectors and one sub-inspector of the All-Women Police Station (AWPS) of Vellore police for not investigating the case as per rules. Each of them has to pay a sum of ₹2 lakh as compensation and the remaining amount will be collected from two constables, who were part of the investigation team of the case.
The SHRC Chairperson also ordered that the compensation should be deposited in the survivor’s bank account within a month. The State government should also take necessary disciplinary action against police personnel involved in the investigation of the case.
The Commission also recommended re-investigation of the case by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and file a final report before it within three months.
The order, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, stated that the complainant, a 15-year-old survivor, said that she was asked by her neighbour and accused Mohanapriya to come to her house where she was sexually assaulted by her friend Santhoshkumar. The survivor was threatened by Mohanapriya and her other friend Meganathan.
The survivor managed to escape and lodged a complaint with Vellore AWPS on June 23, 2022. A case was registered under section 17 of POCSO Act. The case was investigated by a team comprising Inspector P. Shyamala, Sub-Inspector S. Sathiyavani, and writer D. Dhamayanthi. The medical examination was conducted at Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore on June 26 and again on July 9 when the victim alone was brought by police.
The Commission found that even after a tip-off that the survivor was sexually abused, the police had not informed the Child Welfare Officer as per norms. The police also violated rules that said family members or a Child Welfare Officer should accompany the victim for medical examination.
The Commission also found lapses in the police investigation as it took almost nine months by the investigating team to record statements of the survivor in March 2023 despite the case being registered in June 2022. “Even after such a confession statement by the survivor to the court, the police did not take any steps to implicate suspect Meganathan in the criminal case and they supported the opposite party,” the order said.
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