Mumbai Crime: 57-year-old man who raped minor in Andheri school roams scot-free

Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the accused is supposed to be arrested immediately. And the Child Rights Commission (CRC) is not happy that there's been no arrest yet in the alleged rape of a minor student of a reputed Andheri school by its trustee.

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Pulling up the Mumbai Police for their lacklustre approach to the investigation, the CRC has asked them to submit details of all POCSO cases within two weeks, after which it will make a final recommendation in the Andheri case. It wants to know in which other cases no arrest was made.

CRC sees red
The commission, which has taken suo motu cognisance of a 57-year-old trustee being booked for allegedly raping a three-year-old student in May, held another hearing in the case yesterday.

"There has to be an immediate arrest in a POCSO case. But in this one, the police have delayed it for way too long. Hence, we want details of other cases," said A N Tripathi, CRC secretary, who chaired the hearing.

"We also want to know what happened to the other victim, which had come up during the investigation. Even if there was no complaint from the other student's parents, it was the police's duty to probe the matter as it involves a minor."

The CRC has asked the police to submit its investigation report by Monday along with an explanation on why its (commission's) order of immediate arrest has not been followed yet. If the police fail to meet the two-week deadline to submit details of other cases, the commission will go ahead and make a final recommendation based on the documents available with it.

Cops to follow through
Navinchandra Reddi, DCP of zone X, under which the MIDC police station comes, said, "There's been no arrest yet due to lack of evidence. The case is also going on in the Bombay High Court. As per HC's directives, the investigating officer has been changed and an independent ACP, who has been given the charge of investigation, will submit the report in court within a week. We will provide whatever information the CRC is seeking."

While the school was represented by its lawyer at the commission hearing, a school official said, "The school has been cooperating with the police investigation right from the start and it will continue to do so."

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