MALAPPURAM: The District Child Protection Unit, Child Welfare Committee and Childline will urge the police to slap stronger provisions of the POCSO Act in the Edappal theatre child molestation case. Currently, the police have invoked POSCO provisions minus Section 5(M) which provides for at least 10 years’ imprisonment. “This is a case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault. We will urge the police to slap Section 5 (M),” said Childline district coordinator Anwar Karakkadan.
Meanwhile, the Child Welfare Committee too found the child was the victim of aggravated penetrative sexual assault. “It’s up to the investigation officers to impose the Sections on the basis of statement from the victim. We have told police officers our member has found the child underwent aggravated penetrative sexual assault,” said CWC chairman M Manikandan.
District Crime Records Bureau(DCRB) DySP Saji Varghese, who is heading the probe, said the charges slapped on the accused will be altered if found necessary during the subsequent investigation. The mother of the child has confessed 60-year-old Moideen Kutty molested her daughter with her consent inside the theatre. She was taken into custody on Sunday morning.
The 35- year- old woman from Thrithala in Palakkad district also admitted the child was taken to theatre with the intention of subjecting her to the horrendous ordeal. Moideen and the woman have been sent to Manjeri Sub-Jail by a POCSO Court here. Moideen was arrested on Saturday after footage of the shocking abuse caught by the theatre’s CCTV cameras appeared on social sites and local TV channels.
CPM, IUML trade charges
Palakkad:The CPM and the Muslim League traded charges on the political affiliation of the accused in the Edappal molesta-tion case. The statement of former CPM MLA V K Chandran that Moideenkutty was a member of the KMCC had drawn flak from the League. League leaders M N Noushad, Pathil Ali, P V Veeravunni and U T Tahir told media persons on Monday there was no truth in the allegation made by Chandran. They instead claimed Moideenkutty was a sympathiser of the CPM.
They said Chandran who was an MLA for ten years did know most of the people in Thrithala and he was trying to cover up the failure of the police on the issue. They also said Moideenkutty had not take membership of the KMCC, which was under the Muslim League. He had a valid visa to go abroad but his belief in the ruling party that they will protect him was the reason for staying back, they alleged. The League leaders demanded Chandran apologise for making baseless allegations.