Sexual assault victim’s plaint falls on deaf ears, calls helpline

When contacted, a police official said that the accused has been at large. In the nearly 20-minute-long conversation, the victim, a 13-year-old girl and a student of a private school in the city, can be heard explaining in detail how police registered a case in August and have not arrested her stepfather, R Karpagakani.

The victim’s father died of tuberculosis in 2013 after which her mother married Karpagakani in 2019, and it is not registered yet. The accused has been allegedly abusing the victim since August 2020 and threatened her he would leave the family if she tells her about the abuse. 

A few months ago, the victim’s mother came to know that Karpagakani has been living with another woman after he stopped visiting them since March. That is when the victim has informed her mother about the abuse by Karpagakani.

Based on her complaint, Tirumangalam all-women police registered a case under Pocso Act in August, but Karpagakani is still not arrested. 

It may be noted that the victim’s mother submitted a petition at the city police commissionerate in September that she was made to sweep the station for a few days since she could not afford a bribe of Rs 5,000 to pay the inspector.

However, the victim decided to call the child helpline after watching the Coimbatore sexual harassment case on TV. When contacted, a police official told DTNext that the accused had been hiding in Madurai, but he escaped from there. He will be arrested soon, the official added.