HYDERABAD: Many NGOs have alleged that the Kacheguda police have registered "weak" sections of the IPC and Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act in the child abuse case of a 7-year-old girl.
The police have booked the couple under Section 75 of the JJ Act (willfully causing hurt) and Section 324 of the IPC (voluntarily causing hurt). Section 75 warrants a maximum punishment of 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh in extreme cases while punishment under Section 324 extends up to three years with a fine.
These shorter terms of punishment accorded in both sections has made many question why the police have not used stricter provisions of the IPC. "The police must also use sections under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act as she was taken from another couple without following due course of adoption. They must also use sections from the Bonded Labour Act as the child had been kept in confinement and not sent to school and possibly made to work," said A Venkateshwarlu, from NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
The NGO Balala Hakkula Sangham has also demanded to apply the IPC section of illegal trafficking in the case. Certain officials working with the police noted that the JJ Act was more feasible for corporal punishment and the kind of wounds on the child must have warranted an attempt to murder case.
"The law establishment often thinks there are no laws to safeguard children. However, all laws applicable to adults can be interpreted for children and it depends upon the skill of the law enforcement agency to use the penal provisions effectively," noted an person in know of the case.
Isidore Phillips of NGO Divya Disha said the biological parents are equally responsible and must apprehended as well. Police officers state they will take the child’s statement once she recovers and then use it to enhance the sections if required.