Atrocity on child: Bail plea of stepmother dismissed

 Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8

The police have added Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code to the first information report (FIR) against a woman who had allegedly thrashed her five-year-old stepdaughter. The step was taken after a local court had asked the police to do so. 

The court had observed that the video also showed that accused Jaspreet Kaur had put the child in a gunny bag. Hence, the court asked the police as to why the woman was not booked for attempt to commit culpable homicide. The court also dismissed her bail plea today.

 The statement of her 13-year-old son was also recorded during the investigation and he narrated the act of cruelty to her sister. 

Referring to her as “clever and sharp-minded”, the police argued that if Jaspreet Kaur was granted bail, she would hamper the investigation. Jaspreet Kaur, resident of Sector 29, was arrested from a relative’s house in Sector 27 on Thursday and booked under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and Section 323 of the IPC. 

‘Police did not take case seriously’ 

• The Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights has observed that the police personnel did not take case “seriously”. It observed that the matter came to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) on November 13 but they returned the case on November 29. Thereafter, an FIR was lodged on December 4.
• The delay in lodging the FIR requires a probe, the CCPCR said. The commission added that her father Manmohan Singh be warned for negligence. “Even though he was aware about the brutality of his wife towards his 5-year-old-daughter, he did not report the matter on the women and child helpline (WCHL) as well as the police,” said the CCPCR.
• The panel has recommended that “a child-friendly police station is required to be established separately to avoid negligence and delay in such cases.”