Coming down heavily on the police for "surreptitiously" filing a closure report in the case of the death of a POCSO victim in an accident, the Bombay High Court (HC) has directed the joint commissioner of police, Navi Mumbai, to file an affidavit with regard to the allegations that he was killed by his alleged perpetrator.
A division bench deprecated the “deplorable practice adopted by the investigating officer” in hastily filing an 'A Summary Report' before the magistrate at Uran while the matter was pending in the HC. An A Summary report states that the case is true but undetected.
“It prima facie appears to us that the investigating officer filed the Summary Report before the magistrate on February 17 without understanding the gravity of the matter and reading the contents of the present petition,” said the bench. The HC was hearing a petition filed by the victim's brother, alleging that he was killed in an accident at the behest of the accused who sexually abused him in 2020.
What is the case about?
According to the petitioner, his then 17-year-old brother was sexually abused by the man in January 2020. A case was registered by Sakinaka police under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However, the accused has never been arrested despite the HC and Supreme Court rejecting his pre-arrest bail pleas. The petition filed by the brother seeking his arrest is pending before the HC.
Meanwhile, the victim died in an accident under suspicious circumstances on September 28, 2022, after being hit by a heavy vehicle whose registration number was not clearly visible, alleges the brother.
The brother sent a written complaint to the senior police inspector of Uran police station and the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner on October 3 to take action against the accused. However, no action was taken and so he filed another petition in the HC, urging that the police be directed to book the accused for murder.
When the petition came up for hearing on February 14, the additional public prosecutor sought time to take instructions from the officer concerned. The HC allowed the request and kept the petition for hearing on February 21. However, the petitioner's advocates Ghanshyam Upadhyay and Aakash Mishra informed the court that on February 17, the police filed an A- Summary Report before the magistrate. The HC has kept the matter for hearing on March 9.
