An alleged case of child sexual abuse of a teenage boy by his mother recently came to light in Kerala's Kadakkavur, where the 37-year-old woman was arrested. However, the case has now taken a turn where the 14-year-old survivor's younger sibling told the media on Saturday that their father had compelled his teenage sibling to give a statement against their mother.
"My father would beat us to make us speak. He had tried to make me speak like that by hitting me. He always threatened that he would put my mother in jail," the nine-year-old younger son told Manorama News.
The woman's mother also told the media that she was a victim of domestic violence and she was separated from her husband. "He tortured her a lot physically. Three years ago, she came home as the abuse was unbearable. When remarried, she had filed a complaint against him and sought alimony," the mother of the woman told the media.
As per reports, the father took their three sons who are 17, 14 and nine years old respectively to stay with him after he separated from their mother. In his complaint, he said he noticed some behavioural issues with the 14-year-old boy after the latter came to live with him in the Gulf, and filed a complaint with Childline on his visit to Kerala.
Later, the case was transferred to police, and the child reportedly stood by his statement that he was sexually abused by his mother two years ago.
"The child told us clearly that he was abused. He also gave a statement to the magistrate. We cannot rule out the possibility of a family issue reason for the accusation. But we can confirm only after proper enquiry, we have just started the investigation," Vinod, the Kadakkavur Sub-Inspector, told TNM.
He added that though he spoke to the nine-year-old child of the couple as well, the child had not said anything about being coerced into giving statements against his mother.
"I have taken statements from the younger child, but he did not say to me what he told the media. Neither the younger child nor his 14-year-old brother have said anything against mother or if she approached them badly. We will have to look further into the case," the officer said.
The woman is remanded and is currently in women’s prison at Attakulangara. Apart from three boys, she also has a six-year-old daughter.