The alleged failure of the State police to slap charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on a primary schoolteacher suspected of having sexually exploited a 10-year-old girl student at Palathayi in Kozhikode is shaping up to be the next political battlefront between the government and the Opposition.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has said the reluctance on the part of the Crime Branch (CB) to bring POCSO charges against the accused, a BJP worker, pointed to a tacit pre-poll understanding evolving between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in north Kerala.
The controversy has come to a head after a court in Thalassery had granted bail to the accused. The CB had booked the teacher under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act on the charge of having inflicted corporal punishment on the girl. It filed an interim report in the court seeking more time for a detailed inquiry.
Contradictions, says CB
A senior CB official said the agency would revisit the statements given by the minor. Many of her claims appeared to contradict the declarations given by her schoolmates and other teachers.
For instance, the CB had probed the allegation that the accused had sexually exploited the girl at the school after the Republic Day celebrations. She attended the flag-hoisting ceremony and later sat through a quiz.
However, investigators could not prove the suspect was at the school on that day. His cell phone showed a different location and he also provided alibis for the whole day.
The CB would also verify the statements given by the girl on the happenings on January 15 and February 2. It would evaluate the child psychiatrically.
Political impact
The case has animated the politics in north Kerala. P. Jayarajan of the CPI(M) has blamed the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) of having tried to sabotage the case.
P. Abdul Hammed, State general secretary of the SDPI, accused the CPI(M) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) of having conspired to help the accused. He said the family of the victim had come to the SDPI for help. The party’s Women India Movement (WIM) had taken up their cause. Writers, including Sara Joseph and K. Satchidanandan, expressed their solidarity with the victim by protesting at their homes on Sunday.
