Bombay HC pulls up cops for summoning child witness
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednes-day pulled up the Mumbai police for repeatedly summoning a child witness to the police station in connection with the probe into the alleged rape of a three-year-old girl by the trustee of an Andheri school in November 2016.
The court said that the police was defeating the purpose of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by not adhering to investigational procedure under the Act. The court also directed the Andheri MIDC police station to submit the case diary at the next hearing on April 2, to find out how many times the minor boy had been summoned to the police station.
Justice Revati Dere was hearing an application filed by the girl’s parents seeking cancellation of bail given to the trustee. The court on Wednesday said, “If the police keep summoning children to police stations like this, parents are naturally bound to feel that it is just adding to the trauma. It is very disturbing to note that the child and his father had to go to the police station on several
occasions.”
“The Act is very clear on what procedure needs to be followed by the police while probing cases of such nature. Why were the child and his father called to the police station?” the court said.
The trustee was arrested on November 7 last year and was granted bail by the sessions court on November 24 of the same year.