A ninth class dropout, who is a victim in a POCSO Act case about a month ago, posing as a Disha Police Officer reportedly threatened and forced a family in a village in Avanigadda mandal in Krishna district to appear in a court in Vijayawada. Four members of the family and a former sarpanch who arrived at the court on Monday, however, grew suspicious over her behaviour there and approached a policeman for help. She was caught while trying to escape after he started questioning her.
The girl reportedly wanted the family members of a boy, who was named as an accused in a girl missing case, to complain to the judge against the Krishna district Child Welfare Committee (CWC). It is suspected that the motive behind her action was to put the CWC in trouble for sending her to a child care home in connection with a POCSO case which was registered after an assault on her.
According to police sources, the Krishna CWC referred the minor girl to a child care home at Podu village in Kruthivennu mandal. At the home, she had befriended a minor girl, who was a victim in a girl missing case, and found out that her boyfriend was booked in the case.
On Sunday, she approached the boy’s family at Aswaraopalem village claiming herself to be a Disha officer. The family, fearing further trouble to their boy, yielded to her threats and gave her their statements besides handing her over their Aadhaar copies and photos. She also sought details from the village heads.
“When we asked her to show her ID card, she claimed that she was a fresh recruit sent for the inquiry. She took our photos and recorded our voices on her mobile phone,” said Aswaraopalem former sarpanch Kondaveeti Madhusudhan Rao.
“As our boy was involved in the ‘girl missing case’, we panicked and gave all the information she asked for. We grew suspicious about her behaviour at the court. After some grilling, we brought the girl to the CWC which sent her to the Satyanarayanapuram police station,” said Mr. Madhusudhan Rao.
“We lodged complaints with the CWC and the Satyanarayanapuram police,” he told The Hindu.
“The girl took the boy’s family to the same court where she had earlier recorded her statement in the POCSO Act case,” said a police officer.
As the girl is a minor, she would be counselled and handed over to her parents, said Satyanarayanapuram CI M. Venkata Narayana.
