Siblings sexual abuse: Local police officials suspended

NEW DELHI - Two police officials of Prasad Nagar police station in central Delhi have been suspended for their lax handling of a case pertaining to sexual abuse of three siblings and trying to persuade their mother to withdraw her complaint, an official said Tuesday.

Station House officer Arvind Kumar and investigating officer, Assistant Sub-Inspector Balbir Singh were suspended for “their callous approach towards the case and for allegedly attempting to pressurise the victims’ 32-year-old mother to take back her complaint”, a senior police official said.

The case has already been transferred from the local police to the Crime Branch. Lalit Ratawal, a school cab driver, was arrested Sep 17 for allegedly raping a young girl and sodomising her two brothers for about one-and-a-half years in Prasad Nagar along with his associates.

The victims’ mother and one of her neighbours had alleged that she was being pressurised to take back the complaint by the police. The matter was taken seriously by Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia who requested Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal to intervene in the case and take stringent action against the SHO for pressurizing the family.

The mother of the siblings had also alleged that the police was trying to victimise the children by raising irrelevant questions regarding the case. The police have registered a case under IPC section 376 (Rape), 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation).