The government has taken a firm stance against the accused mother in the Kadakkavoor POCSO case during her bail hearing. While the mother had claimed that the police investigation is wrong and that the child’s father had coerced him into accusing her, the prosecution told the court that the victim’s claims were not coerced.
Supporting their stance, the prosecution claimed that they have retrieved crucial evidence in the case. Apart from the 14-year-old’s complaint, the police have reportedly recovered evidence from the mother’s phone regarding the investigation. Moreover, the investigating officers claimed that the mother had been secretly medicating the victim and that they have recovered the alleged medicines from her possession.
The prosecution pleaded the Court to read the case diary before giving the verdict, to which the latter agreed, asking officers to submit the report by today. The Court noted that a detailed decision on the issue would be taken tomorrow after studying the case diary.
However, the issues surrounding the case have seen complicated twists. Following the complaint and intervention from the Child Welfare Committee, the police had arrested the child’s mother on December 28. Soon, the mother, as well as her parents, had alleged that the child’s father had coerced him into making such a complaint since the mother disagreed with the latter’s second marriage.
The issues began after the woman objected to her husband's second marriage. The woman had only been living separately from the man and had not officially divorced him. Following his remarriage, the man took all of their children with him, and soon after the child filed a complaint against her. The family — the victim has two brothers and a six-year-old sister — has split over the issue. While the victim’s one brother claimed that their father used to beat them up and he has forced the child to make such a statement, another brother stands by the victim’s complaint.
Observing the complexity of the case, DGP Loknath Behera had entrusted the investigation to South Zone IG Harshitha Attaloori. The police had also gotten into trouble with the CWC over the recording of the case. The committee chairperson N Sunanda had alleged lapses in the filing of the First Information Report, especially including her as the informant. She maintained that neither she nor the committee had forwarded the case to the police, nor did they inform. Counselling was conducted through a social worker, and the following report was forwarded to the police.
The police, on the other hand, maintained that a letter purportedly written by the CWC, which started the investigation. They added that the child’s statement to a female magistrate as well as the medical examination report furthered the investigation. This apparent confusion has given birth to an action council demanding action against local police and to seek ‘justice for the mother’.
