As SC asks minor boy to move Gujarat HC, counsel raises concern on destruction of evidence

According to the plea, the minor was picked up on August 18 by the police of Botad town in Gujarat suspecting the role of the boy in the theft of gold and cash. It alleged he was in illegal custody from August 19 to 28 and was brutally beaten up by police officers at the police station and subjected to sexual assault. The plea alleged the minor boy was neither produced before the Juvenile Justice Board nor a magistrate within 24 hours of his “arrest” and, moreover, the police failed to conduct his medical examination after “arrest”. The boy works in a welding shop and the incident was alleged by two men who are the sibling’s neighbours, as per the sister.

The plea, filed by the sister of the alleged victim sought reliefs including a direction to set up a special investigation team, which does not include Gujarat cadre police officers, for investigating the incident under the supervision of the apex court. Alternatively, the plea sought a direction for a court-monitored CBI probe.

Their counsel submitted in the SC, “Today, my concern is this. By the time I go to the high court, the CCTV footage may be destroyed,” he said. “It won’t be destroyed if you go there timely,” the bench noted and allowed him to withdraw the plea.

The plea sought registration of an FIR under provisions of the BNS, POCSO Act, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act against the accused police constables.

The Indian Express had on September 14 reported that the Botad Town police had filed an FIR against four constables of its own police station only after an application had been forwarded from the office of the DGP and a lawyer had mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India B R Gavai.

On September 15, the four accused police constables – Kaushik Jani, Yogesh Solanki, Ajay Rathod, Kuldeepsinh Vaghela – were transferred to the police headquarters. Strangely, the case is being investigated by their own senior officer, Inspector S R Kharadi of Botad Town police station.

“My brother was only two years old when my father died and my mother left us after her second marriage. We have been living with our grandfather, who is 65 years old now,” she told IE.

Asked about the condition of her brother, the sister said, “He was in bad shape earlier as he was beaten up brutally. His kidney was also affected. He is getting better now, but he will remain in hospital for 4-5 more days as per the advice of the doctors.”

Speaking about the incident, the young woman said, “My brother works in a welding workshop. On August 18, two boys, who live near our home, took him to another place and accused him of theft of jewellery. When he refused the allegations, they called the police, who took him to the police station and beat him up. Then they brought him home and took the money that we had saved from the monthly Rs 3,000 my grandparents receive from the government since we are orphans, and some money from the sale of my brother’s vehicle.”
She added, “Then they took my brother away and kept him in the police station for many more days and when my grandfather tried to intervene, they beat him up as well. When my brother became unwell, they took him to a hospital in Botad and from there, to Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad on September 1.”

The Indian Express has learnt that the CCTV cameras of Botad Town police station were functional when the teenager was allegedly thrashed between August 19 and 28 on the suspicion of theft with no complaint or FIR being filed against him.

The boy is being treated at Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad where he was allegedly brought by the accused police constables themselves after his health deteriorated. The boy had undergone dialysis and is said to be recovering after a fortnight of treatment.

The Indian Express has learnt that the police are in possession of CCTV footage of the police station on the days of the alleged crime. When asked about the CCTV footage, Botad Town police station police inspector S R Kharadi said, “We will look at the CCTV footage as part of the investigation.”

When asked whether they hadn’t checked it so far even though there had been a police inquiry led by DySP Maharshi Raval and two days having passed since filing of the FIR, Kharadi said, “They have alleged several days of police torture. It takes time to take CCTV footage backup for so many days.”

The case is under the supervision of DySP Maharshi Raval, who remained unavailable for comment. Botad SP Chintan Teraiya too remained unavailable for comment.

The four constables had been booked under BNS Section 120(1) (voluntarily causing hurt to compel a confession or restore property), 127(8) (wrongful confinement), and 54 (abettor present), as well as under Juvenile Justice Act section 75 (cruelty to a child).

The boy lives with his paternal grandparents and elder sister. While their father died about 16 years ago, their mother married another person, said the boy’s sister.

(With PTI inputs from New Delhi)

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