A woman from Kadakkavoor in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting her 14-year-old son. As per the child’s statement, the incident took place two years ago, in 2019, back when he was staying with his mother, who is a native of Vakkam in Thiruvananthapuram district.
The child’s parents separated and his father had remarried and moved to the middle-east for work. According to the father’s complaint to the Kadakkavoor police, the alleged incident came to light after the child moved to the Gulf after 2019 and had experienced 'emotional distress', and had revealed his experiences during a religious teaching class. The father filed the complaint when visited Kerala last month, and a probe was ordered and subsequently, the mother was arrested.
Speaking to TNM, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Chairperson N Sunanda said that the case was brought to the CWC by the Kadakkavoor police. “While they were investigating the case, the police brought the 14-year-old to us and requested us to do a counselling session. The boy’s statements during this counselling session matched with what he had told the police. He revealed that he had experienced sexual assault at the hands of his mother. We filed the report and gave it to the police. The details in the complaint are the father’s version which we have not verified,” she stated.
Based on this report and the statement by the father, a First Information Report (FIR) under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012 was registered. “We filed the FIR under sections 7 (sexual assault) and 8 (punishment for sexual assault), sections 9 (aggravated sexual assault) and 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) and sections 11 (sexual harassment) and 12 (punishment for sexual harassment),” Station House Officer of the Kadakkavoor police station, who is probing the case, told TNM.
The minor and his eight-year-old sibling are under the care and custody of their father.
The accused woman has been arrested and remanded to the Attakulangara Women Prison and Correctional Home.