MADURAIEvidence, a non-governmental organisation, has urged the State government to take immediate steps to prevent crimes against children.
Kathir, director of Evidence, while referring to the alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Villupuram district on April 6, said that Auroville police arrested three persons and booked cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, POCSO Act and other Acts..
According to available data, at least 1,800 to 2,000 cases of child abuse were reported in Tamil Nadu every year. In many of the cases, the victims were asked a number of inconvenient questions, while the accused were roaming freely. In some police stations, the law-enforcers insisted on ‘compromise’ between the accused and the victims, he alleged. Despite clear guidelines on speedy trial of such cases after the Nirbhaya incident, many cases were pending at the complaint or inquiry stage.
Mr. Kathir said the victim in Villupuram district told her mother that she was going to attend a special class and left home around 3 p.m. on April 6, but did not return till 8 p.m. After searching for her in many places, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with Auroville police. Around 9 p.m., the girl came home and narrated the harrowing incident, Mr. Kathir said.
When a fact-finding team from Evidence visited the house of the victim, the family members told the members that a youth from the locality had been stalking the girl and expressing his desire to marry her. On the day of the incident, the youth forcibly took her on his two-wheeler to a friend’s place, where two other persons, including a 32-year-old man, joined and the trio allegedly sexually assaulted the girl.
The police arrested the trio, who were later remanded and lodged at Cuddalore Central Prison, Mr. Kathir said and insisted that they should not be granted bail until the case was heard and judgement delivered. He also demanded counselling for the girl and her family. The accused should be detained under the Goondas Act and the family of the victim given ₹ 25 lakh as compensation, he said.
