Closely monitoring Guwahati child abuse case: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said he is closely monitoring a case in which a doctor couple was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing children who they claimed were adopted by them.

Sarma, while addressing a press conference, said he will write to the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to ensure that justice is delivered within six months.

'I have asked the police to file the chargesheet within 30-45 days. I am monitoring the case on a day-to-day basis," he said.

A doctor and his family's domestic help were arrested in Guwahati on Saturday, while his psychiatrist wife, who is frequently seen in local TV channels' talk shows on mental health, was caught on Sunday while trying to flee from the city.

 

The police have slapped various Sections of the IPC along with Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) against the doctor couple and their maid, who has also been arrested.

After their arrest, they were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate who remanded the couple to five days police custody and the maid to judicial custody.

The police had received information that a four-year-old girl was tied to a pole in the terrace of their apartment and kept there for hours, following which a team from Paltan Bazar police station went to their apartment and picked up the doctor and his family domestic help on Friday evening.

The girl was sent for a medical examination and according to the report, she was sexually abused and had injury marks on her body as well as private parts,

The couple claimed they have three children whom they have adopted but the police are investigating whether they had followed proper legal procedure for adoption, Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Barah had said on Sunday.

The police also rescued the other two children from their apartment and sent them for medical examination.

The doctor's wife had made a video on the day of his arrest and uploaded it on social media, claiming that a conspiracy was hatched to "defame and destroy" her family.

The Assam Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) has also taken cognisance of the matter and wrote to the civil and police administration to initiate an inquiry and take action against the accused.