Court allows girl’s psychological test

KOLKATA: A special Pocso court on Monday allowed the police to conduct a psychological test on the Class II student who was allegedly molested by her dance teacher. A detailed medico-legal test of the girl will also be conducted.
The cops will visit the school “at the earliest” to recreate the crime scene and identify the exact spots where the accused — Soumen Rana — molested the girl multiple times.A few school officials, teachers and non-teaching staffers might be asked to record their statement. Judge Chandrajeet Chatterjee on Monday instructed the school to help police probe the case.
“The court has also granted the permission to record the confidential statement of the girl along with her mother. We will complete the process at the earliest as this statement will form the crux of the case,” said Radhakanta Mukherjee, public prosecutor.

The decision to carry out the psychological test though left a few lawyers surprised. But special Pocso prosecutors said that the test was necessary for children dealing with trauma. “We ascertain her mental health even as we make preparations to record her statement and even arrange for the test identification parade. While the victim from the Behala school underwent this test a couple of months ago, the child from the other English-medium school in south Kolkata will undergo this test soon,”said Madhabi Ghosh, special PP in Pocso cases.
The accused’s defence defence lawyers Ankona Pal and Sourav Banik argued that the case was a “conspiracy” and prayed for his bail. They claimed that the section of aggravated sexual assault – as the Pocso section slapped — does not apply as the FIR does not once mention physical sexual assault. The defence lawyers though chose to harp on his medical report that led the judge to allow the accused to be checked by a government medical practitioner every 48 hours. The police said they will begin questioning the accused on Tuesday after collecting some more footage from the school. “The question remains about his motive. The girl has said that this teacher had repeated his act multiple on occasions,” said an officer.