KOLLAM: Amidst allegations that the police is in a hurry to wind up the case regarding the death of a 10-year-old girl—who was sexually assaulted—at Kundara, Kollam Rural SP, S Surendran, who is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said the probe is progressing in the right path.
While brushing aside reports that the police was planning to frame the girl's father for the assault and her death, the officer stressed 'no one will be charged without concrete evidence'.
"There were reports that the police are framing the girl's father for the assault and her death. That is baseless. He was called for questioning. No one will be charged without any evidence. Presently, there are five persons in custody. Their statements, including that of the grandfather, need to be cross-checked. There is no point in saying the case will meet a dead¬-end because two months have passed since the girl's death," S Surendran told the media.
His comments come at a time when the SIT is planning to undertake a polygraph test on the victim's mother and grandfather.
Earlier, the Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) had decided to initiate a suo motu case against Kottarakkara Dy SP Krishnakumar for disregarding its direction to submit a report on the case.
According to KHRC, it was on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim’s father that the DySP was asked to submit a report by March 10. Instead of following that, the DySP was found to be airing comments through media, the KHRC observed.
“When abuse against the elder child was reported in 2015, the police as well as the concerned agencies should have taken it seriously. If they had done that, this kind of an incident could have averted. The post-mortem findings were with the police since January 16. But they were found to be sitting on that. There were specific instructions that the investigating officer should have to consider cases of Juvenile Justice and POCSO with utmost seriousness. However, in Kundara case, they had neglected all this,” said P Mohankumar, SHRC member.