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PANJIM: The father of Class II student, who was allegedly raped by an unknown person in the Vasco school toilet last month, has moved Children’s Court seeking that an FIR be filed against the school for destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.
The aggrieved father has also sought to direct the investigating agency to add Sections 4 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 against the perpetrator to the present FIR.
“…not only have the police failed to register the offences, punishable under Sections 4 and 8 of the Act, but they have also failed to carry out any investigation worth the name, so as to apprehend the culprit, who has committed this gross crime against an innocent child,” the application reads.
Action has been sought against the headmistress Sharlet Furtado, presently on bail on charges of negligence of duty; school teacher Deesha Kavathankar, head clerk Brazina Godinho and the security guard who, the complainant alleged, saw the culprit on five consecutive days before the incident happened.
“The police have not interrogated the school teacher Deesha Kavathankar and head clerk Brazina Godinho, who have tampered with and destroyed the evidence by washing the complainant’s child’s underwear and private parts. Not even an offence has been registered by the police against them for this crime or under Section 201 IPC for destruction of evidence of the crime,” the 39-year-old father stated in the application.
“The headmistress Sharlet Furtado, who failed to report the crime immediately, and instead wanted to keep the incident under wraps, was only proceeded against at a later stage but she does not appear to have been interrogated, and has been released on bail.”
A specially formed SIT of Crime Branch is presently investigating the case under sections 447 (criminal trespass) 376 (rape) of IPC, sections 8 (2) of the Goa Children’s Act 2003 and Section 3 of the PCSOA. Mormugao police is probing a separate case of negligence of duty against the headmistress.
Terming the investigation as ‘sham’ and ‘entirely ineffective’, the father has also sought from the Court to monitor the case for proper investigation and ensuring arrests of all those involved.
He has brought to the notice of the Court that the intention of the school was to hush up the incident by offering money to the victim’s family. “The intention of the school to hush up the incident is even clearer by the action of management official Suresh Shirwadkar in offering Rs 5 lakh fixed deposit certificate to the complainant,” he mentioned in his application.
The father prayed in the Children’s Court that police should arrest the school headmistress, class teacher, clerk and the official.
