CHENNAI: The mother of a rape victim has sought the Madras High Court to order an inquiry into the leak of audio clips pertaining to the investigating officer’s inquiry with the victim girl. She alleged that the woman police inspector, who previously probed the case, thrashed them and threatened them to reach a compromise with the accused person at the police station.
When a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by the victim’s mother and a suo motu HCP initiated by the court came up for hearing before the division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and N Mala on Tuesday, her counsel R Sampath Kumar sought the court to issue a direction in this regard.
He alleged that Inspector Raji forced the victim’s mother to bring her Aadhaar card to the police station late at night and thrashed her to make her reach a compromise with the accused who was present at the station. He informed the court that an audio of the victim speaking to the inspector was leaked and circulated on social media. “Where is the question of compromise in the sexual assault of the minor girl? How did the audio appear in the media?” he asked, adding the finger of suspicion falls on the inspector.
Refuting the allegations, State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah submitted that the HCP was not maintainable because there was no illegal detention and the victim was with her mother. He questioned the rationale behind initiating the suo motu HCP as well.
He said the investigating officer (IO) was changed only because of the sensitivity of the matter involving sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Filing the counter-affidavit to the HCP, Jinnah said two accused persons, including a juvenile, have been arrested so far and the probe is still under way. The State PP wanted the court to reject the HCP.
However, the bench said the court could not be forced to do so and it is within its powers to hear the HCP moved by the victim’s mother. “The matter involves the law and the facts of the case. So, we have to hear before deciding on maintenance,” it said. The court adjourned the matter to October 1 after directing the petitioner to file a reply to the counter-affidavit.