An internal inquiry has been ordered by the Greater Chennai Police (GCP) to probe the leak of the 10-minute audio statement of a child rape survivor. The internal inquiry will be conducted by the Anna Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bhukya Sneha Priya.
The Anna Nagar All Women’s Police Station (AWPS) on August 30 filed a case of child rape in its jurisdiction. Shockingly, the audio statement recorded by the police has been leaked online. The voice recording has been making rounds on social media platforms since Sunday, September 8, reflecting the police’s gross negligence in handling the sensitive case.
While the First Information Report (FIR) had named one Satish, a 30-year-old water can supplier, as the accused. Contrary to this, in the audio recording, the child can be heard retracting his name and naming a juvenile boy who allegedly assaulted her two years ago. Allegedly, this was done at the behest of the Anna Nagar AWPS inspector Rajeev. The survivor’s mother told TNM that her daughter was coerced into changing her statement after Inspector Rajeev threatened her saying that her parents would go to jail and her sibling would be placed in a care home if she named the actual accused.
Other lapses in the case include disclosing the identity of the survivor and the FIR, containing sensitive details of the survivor.
The GCP has also transferred the case to Koyambedu AWPS after a serious allegation that the Investigating Officer, Inspector Rajeev, had assaulted the survivor’s parents in the police station. Uma Maheswari, Inspector of Koyambedu AWPS, is the present Investigating Officer of the case.
The leak of the audio statement is a serious violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The manner in which the statement was recorded also raises questions about the Investigating Officer’s conduct. As per Section 24(5) of the POCSO Act, which outlines how statements have to be recorded, the police should ensure that the identity of the child is protected “from the public, media, unless otherwise directed by the Special Court in the interest of the child.”
Under 24(1), it also mandates that the police record statements either at the residence of the child or at a place of the child’s choice. In this case, the statement was recorded in the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMC). It is unclear if the police took the child’s consent to record the statement at the hospital on August 30.
Read: Child rape survivor's audio statement leaked: Did Chennai cops violate protocol?
On August 29, the 10-year-old was taken to a hospital after she fell sick. The doctors confirmed that the child was raped. Subsequently, an FIR was registered against Satish, based on the mother’s complaint. He was booked under Sections 5(i), 5(m), and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. However, Satish was not arrested by the police citing lack of evidence against him. The juvenile boy who was named by the child was produced before the Juvenile Justice court.