Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police (DGP) has framed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed in all cases relating to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Significantly, the SOP says that the police should not only record the statements from suspects/accused persons but also collect their forensic DNA samples before producing them in the court for remand.
It states the First Information Report (FIR) must be registered within 24 hours of the receipt of the complaint and a copy should be handed over to the parent or guardian or the complainant.
Within 30 minutes of the receipt of complaint, the investigating office (IO) should visit the scene/survivor, rescue the child and facilitate medical treatment if necessary without delay.
When parents, guardians or complainants are present at the police station, they must be asked to submit a written complaint and a copy of the community service register (CSR) receipt should be given to them. Plain-clothes police personnel must record the statements of the child. “The sexual offence samples must be collected as early as possible,” it said.
A communication from the DGP’s Office issued last month to the Commissioners of Police and the Superintendents of Police across, said: “The unit officers are instructed to train the investigation officers on this SOP and see that these cases end in conviction for substantial terms of imprisonment against offenders.”
The complaints received could be from helplines 1098, 181 and 100, oral and written complaints and those received through the ‘One Stop Crisis Centre’ established by the Social Welfare Department and non-governmental organisation, it said.
The Inspector from a all-women police station, who is the IO in the case, has to request the One Stop Crisis Centre to nominate a psychological counsellor for the case. The police has to facilitate necessary medical treatment for the children in various circumstances.
“In cases where sexual offences were committed against children by their family members, the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) should be intimated immediately. In such cases, the IO should pick up the child from his/her family members. In cases where police intervention is necessary, a woman police officer should accompany the child to ensure his/her protection,” the SOP said.
