Police in Puducherry are searching for a Chennai-based photographer accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at a hotel in the Union Territory, after an all-women police station in Royapuram registered a zero FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and transferred the case for investigation.
According to the Times of India report, the case was registered after the Chennai district Child Welfare Committee received information about the alleged abuse in September. Police said the committee spoke to the girl before filing a complaint. The allegation relates to an incident reported to have occurred on August 30 at a hotel near Muthialpet in Puducherry.
The girl, her mother and the accused, identified by police as Thiagu, had reportedly travelled from Chennai to Puducherry on August 28 for a photo shoot. They stayed at the hotel, where the alleged assault took place while the girl’s mother was outside the room, according to the complaint cited in the report.
A zero FIR allows a police station to register a case even when the alleged offence occurred outside its normal jurisdiction. The case can then be transferred to the police station responsible for investigating the location of the incident. In this case, the Royapuram all-women police station registered the FIR and transferred it to Puducherry police.
The arrangement is intended to prevent jurisdictional delays at the initial stage of a complaint. It also allows the first police station approached by a complainant or authority to record the allegation before the matter is moved to the relevant jurisdiction. The subsequent investigation remains with Puducherry police because the alleged offence took place there.
A team from Puducherry arrived in Chennai on Friday to question and apprehend Thiagu, but police said they could not locate him in Royapuram. The report did not state whether he had been arrested or provide details of any response from him to the allegation.
Police said the girl had dropped out of school after Class IX. The complaint also states that her mother, who had known Thiagu for 14 years, had agreed to let him marry the girl after she turned 18. Any marriage involving a person below the legally permitted age does not remove the applicability of child-protection law, and the allegation is being investigated under the POCSO Act.
The case places attention on how child-protection complaints move between institutions and jurisdictions. The initial information reached the Child Welfare Committee in Chennai, the first case registration took place at a Chennai police station, and the investigation was transferred to Puducherry because that is where the alleged incident occurred.
Puducherry police are continuing efforts to locate and question the accused. The allegations have not been adjudicated by a court, and the identity of the minor has not been disclosed.
