Sivaganga sub-inspector held for minor’s rape after PIL names him

MADURAI: Police arrested Sivaganga town police sub-inspector Shankar and three others in connection with the rape of a minor girl, who accused senior police officers and those in the IPS of sexually abusing her and attempting to stall a proper investigation. The 17-year-old girl’s lawyer has demanded a CBI enquiry into the allegations. The three other arrested included an autorickshaw driver and friends of the girl’s brother, police sources said.
The shocking allegations came to light when the girl recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate and mentioned many names, said a PIL filed by her advocate and social activist T Vincent in the Madras high court. The petition alleged that the FIR registered by the all-woman police station in Sivaganga cited weak charges, and attempts were being made to hush up the case, registered on a complaint from a neighbour Selvi to the child helpline on June 4.
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Vincent’s petition said the girl had been raped by her own father, her brother, immediate relatives, friends, advocates, police personnel, auto drivers and even a bus conductor, when she was residing in Majeeth Road in Sivaganga town, earlier this year. She had undergone two abortions as a result.
The girl said she was raped by a tailor in her neighbourhood, her grandfather, who is no more, her brother’s friends, an autorickshaw driver, shopkeeper and even the man who delivered water cans to her home. The girl had stated she was made to consume drugs by those who abused her.
The case came up for hearing before the first bench in the Madras high court and the Sivaganga police were directed to submit a report on November 3. DIG Anand Kumar Somani assigned ASP Nanditha Pandey as investigating officer. On Wednesday evening, four persons, including SI Shankar, Senthil, Suresh and Aravind, were arrested.
Sources said inspector Shivakumar was also being interrogated. Vincent had demanded that higher officers, allegedly involved in sexually abusing the girl, should be brought to book as well. When contacted, South Zone IG Abhay Kumar Singh said he was aware of the ongoing investigation into the case but declined to confirm the arrests.
The minor girl, who was motherless, had been staying with her father R Muthupandi and her brother M Karthik. Her father, who was alcoholic, had raped her frequently, and so had her brother, who used to come home during weekends from his work place. The girl in her statement said the Sivaganga town police station inspector Shivakumar and his subordinate SI Shankar had raped her when she approached them to lodge a complaint.
The inspector is now serving in the IG’s office in Madurai. Her father’s friend, Namachivayam a bus conductor had abused her continuously and he had made her undergo two abortions. While one abortion was done in a hospital in Sivaganga, the second one was done in Santhi clinic in Vandiyur in Madurai.