Kerala police has formed a special team to investigate the case where a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012 case victim was allegedly subjected to sexual abuse for the third time at Pandikkad in Malappuram district. The 17-year-old girl, who recently claimed that she had been sexually abused by 27 persons since March 2020, is still undergoing psycho-social counselling at a state-run Nirbhaya Centre in the district.
The special probe team was formed under Perinthalmanna ASP A. Hemalatha. A total of 32 POCSO cases have been filed based on the victim’s statements. Of the 41 accused, 20 persons have already been arrested and the hunt is on to trace the remaining accused.
The girl, who lives with her aged mother, was first subjected to sexual abuse in 2016 when she was 13-year-old. Though she was moved to a Nirbhaya centre, she was allowed to go with her mother after a few months. In the very next year, the girl lodged another complaint, alleging sexual abuse by several men in her locality. She was again shifted to a Nirbhaya home, but was allowed to go home only in 2020 when the COVID-induced lockdown was going to be announced.
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According to the police, the girl was missing for sometime after she was released from Child Home and was traced to Palakkad in December last and brought to the Nirbhaya centre. During counselling sessions, she informed the Nirbhaya authorities about the series of sexual abuse and molestation she had been exposed to.
"The victim continues to undergo counsellingat the Nirbhaya centre. If higher-ups seek any report from us in this regard, we will object to sending her back home to join her mother due to safety reasons. We take into considerationher mental condition also," Malappuram district police chief Abdul Karim told news agency PTI.
According to official data, POCSO cases have been on the rise in Kerala since 2016. Statistics show that while it was 2,122 cases in 2016, it rose to 2,697 in 2017, 3,179 in 2018 and 3,602 cases in 2019.
In 2020, a total of 1,764 cases were registered in the state till July. Malappuram district topped the list with 228 cases followed by Thiruvananthapuram 204 and Palakkad 159 cases.
