CWC seeks clarity on case, questions date

In a sudden move, the Child Welfare Committee has urged police officials to submit to it all reports pertaining to the East Bangalore school case.
"Till today, we don't know when the incident took place. Though police say the child was harassed on July 2, we feel the incident took place on July 1. When we visited the school, we found the medical registry records of July 1 were com s pletely blurred with whitener," a CWC member told TOI.
As per protocol, in the interest of the child's safety and protection of rights, the case has to be brought before the CWC within 24 hours of the complaint being registered. CWC has also written to police on why they weren't informed.
CWC has taken objection to the fact that a counsellor did not accompany the police when they interrogated the child and her parents. "The police should've been accompanied by a child counsellor when they interrogated the girl. The CWC should have been involved in the process. We feel the child's interests have been ignored, as the focus was diverted to many other issues. We are aware of the case only in bits and pieces," the member said. The case has become popular, but the child has been neglected, the member observed.
A special judicial police unit of the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), which accompanied the family to the police station on July 14, was not called by police during interrogation. "Neither our volunteers nor any child counsellor was called," said a child rights activist from APSA.
A child counsellor told TOI the case has rocketed out of control. "Ideally, there should be a single forensic interview for the child, which is done by developing a rapport with her."
A senior police officer stated that as per the FIR drawn up on the complaint filed by the child's father, the date was July 2, but as investigation progressed, there was confusion whether the date was July 3. "The picture is getting clear now. The date cannot be July 3, as we found that the ayah who washed up the child was absent on that day. All doubts on July 3 may have to be set at rest," the officer said.