Mumbai: Andheri school boy denies being sexually abused, claims he was joking

A week after the co-founder of an Andheri school was arrested for sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl, another child considered to be the second victim - a boy, also 3 - has told the police that he was just joking and hadn't been abused. However, the child rights commission seeks to determine whether the child has denied the crime due to improper questioning by the police.

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"Aisa kuch nahi hua tha. Main mazaak kar raha tha (Nothing like that happened. I was joking)." This is the second child's statement that was read out during a hearing by the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) yesterday.

Also read: Andheri school trustee seeks bail in rape case of 3-year-old student

Even if in jest, it is unclear whom he had made this allegation to. It is important to note that the three-year-old boy never came forward to complain about abuse, but he was considered the second victim of sexual abuse after he was named by the first survivor in her statement to the police.

Commission not satisfied
The MSCPCR seems to have reservations about the boy's denial of abuse. The commission has asked the police to submit a report of the procedure they followed while recording the child's statement. If necessary, they will appoint an expert to assess whether proper procedure was followed and the child's statement is truthful.

Also read - Mumbai Crime: School trustee who repeatedly raped 3-year-old seeks bail

This is not the first time the child rights body has cast doubts on the police's approach to the case. After the commission took suo motu cognisance of the case, it lambasted the police for failing to arrest the 57-year-old school trustee even six months after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced against him. After ordering the immediate arrest of the accused, the MSPCR had also demanded a report from the police the second victim, even though his parents never came forward to complain.

Four days after this, the police arrested the school trustee. Yesterday, however, the MSPCR slammed the cops yet again for failing to arrest the second accused, a teacher who allegedly knew of the child abuse but did not intervene. The teacher was also named in the complaint by the first victim's parents.

Also read - Mumbai: Andheri school founder held for repeated sexual assault on 3-year-old

A N Tripathi, MSPCR secretary, said, "Before arresting the trustee of the school, your officer kept arguing with the commission that he could not be arrested because there was not enough evidence to do so. If that was the case then why is he yet to get bail from court? This means there is a strong case against him and your officers were delaying the arrest for reasons best known to them."

Asking the cops to explain why the second accused had not been arrested, Tripathi added, "By yet not arresting the second accused in the case, the police have rather defied the Commission's order, and we can recommend a case against you to the high court, where the case is already proceeding."

Sought report on child
The Commission has asked the police to submit a report within two days on the methods used to interview the second child. "We want to know how the police has recorded the statement of the 3-year-old who is allegedly the second victim. The POCSO Act gives clear guidelines while recording statements of children. This includes whether child-friendly methods were adopted to record the statement, who all were present, did it include a child expert or counsellor, how long did it take, what kind of atmosphere was it recorded, how was child communicated to, among other factors," added Tripathi.

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

'Don't trust the cops'
Advocate S Balakrishanan, who represents the complainant asked for a copy of the second child's statement. "This statement needs to be examined because we don't trust the MIDC police. Because of this, even the high court had ordered that the investigation officer be changed," said Balakrishanan, to which the commission asked him to submit the request in writing.

"This is regarding another child and the legalities need to be verified before giving a copy of it to the lawyer of the complainant. Further, that child's parents are bound by duty to come forward for the safety of their child. They can communicate with us through our mobile application if they fear anything," said Tripathi.

Two
No. of days cops have to submit report on second victim's interview

Six
Number of months the cops took to arrest the trustee after filing FIR