TN opposes HC’s suo motu proceedings into rape of minor

Chennai: Tamil Nadu govt on Tuesday objected to the suo motu proceedings initiated by Madras high court into the repeated rape of a minor girl and the reported harassment of her parents by the Anna Nagar police.
State public prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah contended that the suo motu plea is unwarranted and that a habeas corpus plea moved by the survivor's mother is not maintainable as the girl was already in the custody of her parents.He further argued that the proceedings, if at all in the suo motu plea and the HCP, should be conducted in-camera as certain details of the probe cannot be discussed in open court.
Recording the submission, a division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice N Mala stated that the court is ready to conduct an in-camera proceeding, if necessary, and directed the mother of the survivor to respond to the counter filed by the state.
The court initiated the suo motu proceeding in view of a mention made by advocate A P Suryaprakasam and a TOI report highlighting the incident, wherein a couple, who complained that their 10-year-old daughter had been raped repeatedly by a neighbour, was beaten by an Anna Nagar all-women police inspector and made to stay at the station till the early hours of Aug 31.
According to the report, the survivor, a Class VI student of a govt school, stood witness to the ill-treatment of her parents in the presence of the accused, Sathish, a water can supplier in the neighbourhood. He is yet to be arrested though an FIR was registered on Aug 31. The girl's father is a construction worker and her mother a cook.
On Aug 29, the girl's mother returned from work in the evening and found that the child had stomach ache. She took her to a private clinic where a doctor examined her and said she had been raped. The girl was referred to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) where doctors said she had been sexually assaulted repeatedly. Informed by KMCH authorities, an Anna Nagar all-women police team visited the hospital.
Contrary to rules, inspector Rajee asked the mother to bring her Aadhaar card and other particulars to the station and held an ‘inquiry' with the child. After the ‘inquiry' with the survivor, the inspector summoned her parents to the station where they were asked to stay till the early next day.