SHRC holds two PSIs guilty of harassing a minor rape victim’s mother, violating POCSO guidelines, slaps them with ₹50,000 fine

The State Human Rights Commission recently held two police sub-inspectors guilty of handling a gang rape case of a minor girl in a careless manner and harassing her mother. The commission slapped a fine of ₹50,000 on each of them to be recovered from their salaries and to be paid to the girl as compensation.

The two, along with the station in-charge, were guilty of violating the POCSO Act, 2012, but the charges against the inspector have been dropped. The survivor, aged around 13 years, was living with her paternal grandmother in Chelur police station limits in Bagepalli, Chikkaballapura district, while her mother worked in Bengaluru at a private firm.

The incident occurred in January 2023 when two boys, both juveniles and related to the girl, impregnated her. The grandmother, who came to know about the incident, took her to the hospital in February for an abortion without informing the mother or the police.

The mother who came to know about the incident rushed to the hospital, created a ruckus and brought the girl to the police station to file a complaint. PSIs Harish and Papanna who despite receiving the complaint delayed in registering FIR and also kept the survivor at the station the whole day on the pretext of inquiry, SHRC has now found.

The mother was sent back, asking her to come the next day, following which she checked into a lodge near the police station. Even though it was a POCSO case, violating the guidelines, the next day, the two PSIs summoned the accused to the station and conducted an inquiry of both the survivor and the accused face-to-face in full uniform. The two officers summoned the family members of the accused, threatened and humiliated the complainant forcing her to drop the complaint. 

A FIR was registered only after the case was brought to the notice of their seniors. Only due to persistent follow-up did the police finally register the FIR, detain the accused and send them to the State Home for Boys, SHRC said. Even the Inspector did not follow due diligence and admitted the girl to a private hospital overnight instead of sending her to the government home for girls and getting her medical examination, it observed. 

Unable to bear the harassment, the girl’s mother filed a complaint with the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission. Taking cognisance of the case, SHRC officials verified the records and questioned the accused to record their statements. The inquiry found that despite strict guidelines from the High Court of Karnataka on handling POCSO Act cases, the accused officials violated the guidelines at every level to help the accused and their family members.

Taking cognisance of this inquiry report, SHRC has found the two officials guilty and slapped a fine of ₹50,000 on PSI Papanna, who has retired from service and Harish, who is presently serving in Chelur police station, to be recovered from their salaries and benefits. The Commission has also recommended to conduct a departmental enquiry for further action against the guilty.