Dharmapuri girl rape case: Child panel puts blame on CWC

Four activists, who travelled to the village to meet her family, were arrested and booked under Section 143 (unlawful assembly) of IPC and Section 7(1) a Criminal Law Amendment Act.
Image used for representational purpose.
Image used for representational purpose.

DHARMAPURI: Even as the Police and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) officials point the finger of blame at each other in handling the aftermath of the 16-year-old girl’s rape, Tamil Nadu State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has tipped the balance and placed a larger part of the blame on CWC. In the case of the Police department, the Commission’s chairperson M P Nirmala drew attention to the fact that the standard operating procedure (SOP) was not followed.

As per norms, the Police should have filed an FIR immediately after the parents filed a complaint. Soon after, she should have been subjected to a medical examination. The child’s wishes should also have been taken into account during the examination. Subsequently, the district child protection officer and CWC should have been informed. 

The CWC should have then gone through the medical reports and done a medical check themselves to ascertain the condition of the girl. All these procedures were not followed, pointed out Nirmala. Further, the CWC had not made any inquiry. This forced the TNSCPCR officials (Chennai) to start their own investigation, she said. Nirmala also condemned the media for handling the news unethically.

With the case involving the rape of a minor girl, the identity of the victim and her family should have been guarded. Instead, many media houses disclosed the name of the child and even carried her picture. The TNSCPCR will take action against all papers, magazines and television channels, who revealed the personal details of child, Nirmala assured. Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister K P Anbalagan met the bereaved family and handed over a solatium of `5 lakh on Tuesday.

4 activists arrested

Four activists, who travelled to the village to meet her family, were arrested and booked under Section 143 (unlawful assembly) of IPC and Section 7(1) a Criminal Law Amendment Act. Those arrested are bank officer Rama-krishnan, activist Vediyappan, Valarmathy of Podhunala Maanavar Ezhuchi Iyakkam, Mahalakshmi of Pengal Ezhuchi Iyakkam. 

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