CHITRADURGA : A distraught father’s desperate attempt to register a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the youth who married his 18-year-old daughter cost him his life.
Ajjayya (54), a farmer from Gilikenahalli, consumed poison in front of Holalkere police station on Sunday. The police shifted him to Chitradurga District Hospital but he died on Monday. Irate villagers and Ajjayya’s family members kept the body near the police station. The mob also tried to attack the DySP, forcing the cops to resort to lathicharge.
The Gilikenahalli marriage story unfolded first as a missing complaint case filed by the girl’s mother at the Holalkere police station. What made things difficult for the police were two separate birth certificates that raised questions over the adult status of the daughter, Sanjana.
As per the birth certificate produced by the mother, Pushpa, Sanjana was 19 and studying for an undergraduate course.
On July 15, Sanjana and her husband, Raghu, appeared before the police and said they are adults and have married. The police then closed the missing case complaint.
But Ajjayya produced another birth certificate, this time from Davanagere Corporation, stating the girl was under 18 years. The police did not budge and refused to register a case under POCSO Act against Raghu, who also hails from the same village as that of Ajayya. Superintendent of Police Ranjith Kumar Bandaru on Tuesday held a press conference in the city and said that they would investigate Ajjayya’s suicide.
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