THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police have ordered a high-level probe into the allegation that a Kadakkavoor native woman was arrested under fabricated Pocso charges. State Police Chief Loknath Behera said IG Harshita Attaluri will probe the allegation raised by the family members of the woman, who is a mother of four children.
The police had on December 28 arrested the woman on charges of sexually abusing her minor son three years back. The complaint was filed by her estranged husband, who claimed that he came to know of the incident from the boy himself.
However, the case turned on its head after the woman’s family members questioned the police’s charge and said the boy was coerced into giving the statement by her husband. The woman had given a case against her husband for domestic violence and marrying another woman without legally divorcing her.
Meanwhile, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has refuted the police’s claims that the panel had sent a report directing the police to register a case against the woman. CWC Chairperson N Sunanda on Sunday said the committee had not sent any such report to the police indicting the woman and it had only provided counselling for the boy.
Reacting to the developments, the Women’s Commission said if the allegations raised by the woman’s family members are true, it’s a grave issue. “If it turns out that the man had prompted the child to give a false statement, then he is liable to be booked under Section 22 of the Pocso Act,” said commission member Shahida Kamal.
She said there has been instances of children being used as a pawn in the domestic tussle between couples and that’s not at all acceptable. “In such a scenario, the children are the ultimate victims. The kids who are forced to give false statements of abuse would suffer mental agony that will linger on,” she said.
Counter charges
The woman’s family members had questioned the police’s charge and said her husband had coerced the boy into giving the statement.
Women’s Commission says if the allegations raised by the woman’s family members are true, it’s a grave issue