Cop arrested in Kerala under POCSO on charges of raping a minor girl

Thiruvananthapuram: The 43-year-old, Dileep, a civil policeman from Idukki, has been arrested on the charge of raping and impregnating a minor girl, who was a student of Class 9.

The accused was arrested on June 24 from Marayoor where he was working as a CPO and produced before the Neyyattinkara POCSO court in Thiruvananthapuram that remanded.

The police have acted upon the instruction from Childline who met the girl at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram’s Aryancode where the survivor is being treated. According to the survivor’s statement, the accused Dileepm, a relative of the girl, raped her thrice during the last three years.

The police have reported that the girl, who was studying in the 9th grade, is a relative of the Chief Police Officer (CPO). During a counselling session with childline workers, she disclosed the name of Dileep.

In the past year, there have been several cases where police officers have faced charges under the POCSO Act. In November 2022, an assistant sub-inspector of police in Wayanad was suspended after being accused of sexually assaulting a complainant in a POCSO case.

ASI TG Babu allegedly exhibited inappropriate behaviour towards the girl when she was taken to Ooty for evidence collection. Around the same time, PR Sunu, who was the Station House Officer of Beypore coastal police station in Kozhikode at the time, was arrested, along with four others, in connection with a gang rape case.

In a separate occurrence in September 2022, a police officer faced charges under the POCSO Act for harassing a minor girl during a bus journey in Thrissur. Ratheesh, an officer who was on deputation at the Central Bureau of Investigation, was accused of harassing a 17-year-old girl and was subsequently suspended.