HYDERABAD : In light of the traumatic experience endured by the 12-year-old victim in the Neredmet rape case, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has decided to assume her custody.
This decision prioritises the girl’s well-being and aims to ensure her best interests are met, officials said. Meanwhile, the police collected DNA samples from the aborted foetus and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). It is likely to help identify the accused.
With the girl’s mother and her 14-year-elder sister seemingly unfit to take care of the victim, considering the trauma that she underwent and to avoid any nuisance from the outside, officials opined that the 12-year-old should be in a CWC shelter for at least a couple of months.
CWC chairperson (Medchal zone) AM Raja Reddy said, “The victim underwent a scan where some clots were observed. She is expected to be discharged on Wednesday. The CWC will assume her custody and place her in a shelter for a couple of months. The Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act prohibits revealing the rape victim’s identity and if the minor is taken home, there is a possibility that her neighbours, relatives and well-wishers may come down to meet her. Though it is to pacify and offer support, it will affect the victim. The girlhas already undergone trauma that is a heavy burden at her age and the CWC decided to assume her custody.”
Accused named in NDPS cases earlier
The CWC official pointed out that the accused will be released under bail after three months. Five of them have been earlier accused in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cases, he said. At this time, it is essential that the victim is provided with counselling at this juncture, Raja Reddy said, adding that since the 12-year-old is a dropout, she would be offered a course to cover basic concepts and would be given the choice to continue her studies or look for a job once she attains the right age.
Additionally, it is alleged that Neredmet police, responsible for providing security to the girl and ensuring that people do not meet or identify her, have been failing to implement the order as reports of strangers reaching her have surfaced.