Jincy* and Jeevan* a young couple from Edathala of Aluva allege they have been threatened multiple times as they try to seek justice for their six-year-old daughter, who was allegedly sexually assaulted and physically tortured by Jeevan's 21 year old sister.
According to the complaint, it was on April 3 that Jeevan heard a voice from the bathroom. When he rushed there, he saw his sister running out from the bathroom to her room. In the bathroom, Jeevan alleged he found his daughter struggling for breath, there was soap foam in her eyes,nose and mouth.
"It took sometime for her to become conscious. When we asked her she told us that her aunt tried to drown her in a bucket of water," Jincy alleged. That is when the couple reached Edathala police station and tried to file a complaint. But Jincy alleged that police refused to file an FIR then.
Few days later Leena*, Jeevan's sister filed a complaint in the same police station alleging mental torture from Jeevan.
A few days later, the six-year-old child started experiencing pain and this is when she told her grandmother (who she was staying with then in Kollam) that the aunt had allegedly sexually assaulted her. However, the child could not remember when the incident happened.
After the family came to know about the assault, they first approached a police station in Kollam. The police asked them to file a complaint in Aluva. A case that invoked sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)was filed at the Edathala police station after a struggle.
"Police were reluctant to take the case as they had some pressure from the leader of a political party, who was close to our neighbors. She has had addiction issues. I think the police had been trying to manipulate the case, though there are clear medical records," Jincy alleged.
After many complaints to higher authorities, the case was shifted to Aluva East women police station. "I fear that they now plan to close the case," she alleged.
"I can't think of what my baby would have gone through. I want the accused to be punished," Jincy added.
Though TNM contacted the investigative officer at Aluva East police station and Aluva Deputy Superintendent of Police, they denied to speak about the case. An officer who sought anonymity told TNM that they were doubtful about the case as the family first filed an assault case and later a POCSO case. "We have doubts that the case was fake. The accused is a 21-year-old girl. She has no parents and the only family she has is this brother. The investigating officer will arrest only if the complaint is genuine," the officer said.