Greater Bengaluru police have arrested a former policeman for allegedly sexually abusing his adopted daughter for at least three years. The accused, 63-year-old Kiran*, was arrested on December 18 and has been lodged in Parappana Agrahara central prison since then.
Police had arrested Kiran based on the 17-year-old survivor’s complaint, more than two years after she fled home. Unable to deal with the ordeal anymore, the survivor had left home and started living at a nearby bus stop. Locals who spotted the girl had called Child Line (1098).
A senior police official told media, that BOSCO (Bangalore Oniyavara Seva Coota), a non-profit that works on children’s issues, had rescued the girl. Later, she was staying in a children’s home run by another NGO in the city. It was during one of the counselling sessions that the survivor opened up about the sexual abuse she had experienced in the past.
“The sexual abuse happened during 2013-16. The girl was rescued by BOSCO first. We came to know about the incident when she reported it to the NGO. We immediately booked the accused, he is currently in judicial custody,” the officer said.
A case has been filed under sections 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 6 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Kiran, who had retired as a sub-inspector from Bengaluru police, was working with a commercial gold loan company as a law advisor. According to the police, Kiran and his wife had adopted the girl after their biological daughter died a few years ago.
Preliminary investigation has found that Kiran’s wife did not help the survivor nor report her husband’s deeds to the police when she came to know about it. Kiran had allegedly been sexually abusing the survivor since the time she turned 13 and threatened to throw her out if she spoke up about it. Police claim that Kiran confessed that he would send his wife and other members of the household to the temple and assault the survivor.
Karnataka had the highest registered cases of crimes against children among the southern states for 2016 and 2017. According to data compiled by the Karnataka police, a total of 1,778 cases of POCSO were registered this year till November, with 167 cases of POCSO registered in November alone.
TNM
