Minor’s rape: POCSO sections added to FIR; accused arrested

IT IS MANDATORY TO BOOK THE ACCUSED UNDER RELEVANT SECTIONS OF POCSO ACT ALSO IF THE RAPE VICTIM IS A MINOR

JALANDHAR : A day after the HT highlighted the rural police failure to include the mandatory Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act sections in a minor girl’s rape case, police revised the first information report (FIR) and added the mandatory sections on Tuesday.

An FIR under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Maqsudan police station on late Sunday evening against an unidentified person for raping a 14-yearold migrant girl in the Ramneek locality here.

But police did not include the POCSO sections, flouting the mandatory guidelines of the Supreme Court.

Kartarpur deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sarabjit Rai said that the relevant sections of the POCSO Act were included in the FIR on Tuesday and the child welfare committee (CWC) is taking care of the victim. “After scanning the CCTV footage, we have also arrested the accused, an 18-year-old youth, of the same locality,” the DSP said.

The DSP said that the accused, identified as Ajay Yadav, a native of Bihar and known to the family, has confessed to his crime. He committed the victim in a park when the girl’s parents were away at their work in the evening.

The victim’s father, 35, who is a labourer, had approached the police on Sunday evening after he found the girl unconscious with blood splattered on her clothes near the park in the locality.

The girl was admitted to the civil hospital and doctors confirmed the sexual assault on the minor, following this Maqsudan police registered a case against an unknown person, police said.

Meanwhile, the Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had also asked the rural police to submit an inquiry report in the case after the Bachpan Bachao Andolan activists approached them after police did not include the POCSO Act in this case.

The commission also deputed district programme officer (DPO) Amarjit Singh Bhullar to personally review the case.

As per provisions of the POCSO Act, the police should add relevant sections against the accused if the rape victim is a minor.

Soon after registering the FIR, the police are also supposed to inform the child welfare committee (CWC) to ensure the victim’s care and safety.