Police in Puducherry are searching for a photographer accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at a hotel, after Chennai’s Royapuram all-women police registered a zero FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and transferred the case to the Union territory for investigation.
The case was registered after the Chennai district Child Welfare Committee received information about the alleged abuse in September and spoke to the girl, according to police. The complaint was then filed through the Royapuram all-women police station, although the alleged offence took place in Puducherry.
A zero FIR allows a police station to register a case regardless of where the alleged crime occurred. The case can then be transferred to the police station with jurisdiction for further investigation. In this instance, the FIR was transferred to Puducherry police, who are now handling the investigation into the alleged assault.
Police identified the accused as Thiagu, a photographer. A Puducherry police team travelled to Chennai on Friday to question and apprehend him, but could not locate him in the Royapuram area, police said. The search for him was continuing.
According to the complaint, the girl’s mother had known Thiagu for 14 years and had agreed to let him marry her daughter after she turned 18. The girl had dropped out of school after completing Class IX, the report said.
Police said the girl, her mother and Thiagu travelled to Puducherry on August 28 for a photo shoot and stayed at a hotel near Muthialpet. The alleged assault took place on August 30 while the girl’s mother was outside the room, according to the complaint. The allegations have not been tested in court.
The case has brought together the child-protection system, Chennai police and Puducherry police because the reported incident involved a minor from Chennai and an alleged offence in the Union territory. The use of a zero FIR enabled the initial complaint to be recorded in Chennai before the investigation was transferred to Puducherry. Further action, including locating and questioning the accused, remains with the investigating authorities there.
