Child abuse case: Cops accused of inaction

MADURAI: CPM politburo member Brinda Karat came down heavily on the police for failing to arrest the headmaster of a government school, who sexually abused girl students at Pothumbu in Madurai.
Brinda Karat said that she was outraged by the way police were dealing with a "clear case of child sexual abuse." Karat accompanied by All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) secretary U Vasuki visited Pothumbu on Saturday and interacted with parents of the school girls who fell victims to M Arogiasamy.
The headmaster Arogiasamy is on the run ever since a police complaint was lodged against him 45 days ago.
"Why did the police not arrest the headmaster even 45 days after the complaint was given?" she asked. Karat also summoned the police officials and questioned them over the lack of legal action taken against the accused. However, the rattled police officials struggled to come out with convincing replies."The police have definitely failed in their duty to arrest the accused," she said. She also pulled up a police official after parents complained of harassment by the personnel from the all women police station at Tirumangalam. She demanded that the inspector, Maria Glory should be transferred. In the name of interrogation, the inspector had asked the children to demonstrate the acts of the headmaster, she alleged.
Some of the victims' parents alleged that police failed to arrest Arogiasamy due to pressure from a senior administrative official in Madurai, who happens to be the relative of the headmaster.
Karat told DSP K B Ravichandran that the accused was admitted in Pudur hospital for 10 days after a case was registered against him and wanted to know why the police failed to take action at that time. "It clearly shows that police failed to nab the culprit and tried protect him," she said. Ravichandran maintained silence throughout the dressing down he received and assured her that he would forward the complaint to SP Asra Garg for conducting departmental inquiry against the police officials who treated children rudely.
Meanwhile, AIDWA Madurai suburban district secretary S K Ponuthai told Karat that this matter was taken to district collector U Sagayam, who failed to give a proper assurance on initiating action against the accused.