“During an inquiry by a team led by Ooty DSP Yasodha, the girl denied being handcuffed. Only a criminal can be handcuffed, that too after permission from senior police officials. Victims will never be treated like this,” he said to the media. The SP also said the girl was shown the CCTV footage to prove that she was not handcuffed. “As she is a minor, the girl has been making contradictory claims,” he said.

Acting on information that the girl was married to a youth, the Ooty AWPS police rescued and sheltered the girl in a home. Meanwhile, the controversy broke out after the girl’s mother submitted a complaint in SP office on November 16 alleging that her daughter was handcuffed, while being taken by a woman cop to a court in Kotagiri.