Six months after a woman in Kerala was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting her teenage son, the Special Investigation Team probing the case has not found any proof against her. The woman from Kadakavoor was arrested in January this year after her 14-year-old son stated that he was sexually assaulted by his mother in 2019. The arrest was made based on the complaint of the boy’s father. She was however released on bail soon, after a High Court order.
Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Divya Gopinath, who was probing the case, told TNM that the team did not find conclusive proof to chargesheet the accused. "We have completed the investigation on this case and submitted the report to the court. We have relied on the medical examination report of the boy. However, we have not been able to find conclusive proof with regard to the contents of the FIR (First Information Report). We are not able to chargesheet the accused. There is no sufficient proof to put charges against the accused," Divya said. Since the FIR was filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), it is a sensitive case and more details could not be divulged, said the officer.
The case had created a lot of furore at the time. The child's parents were separated and the father, who remarried, was living in the Middle East. The father had lodged a complaint with the Kadakkavoor police that the child spoke to him about the incident when he moved to the Gulf with him. He also told the police that the child experienced emotional distress because of the assault.
Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairperson N Sundanda had then told TNM that the police had brought the child to the committee for a counselling session. The child had told the CWC that he was sexually assaulted by his mother. The committee had accordingly filed a report and submitted it to the police. The FIR was filed based on the report and the statement of the father.
However, the mother had earlier said that her son made the allegations due to pressure from his father. After her arrest, the boy’s sibling, too, had alleged that their father had forced the 14-year-old to testify against their mother.
The woman was arrested and remanded at the Attakulangara women's prison but later granted bail by the High Court. The court had directed the state police chief to constitute a special investigation team to probe the case. Divya Gopinath was then put in charge of the probe.