Nalasopara police on Sunday humiliated a 17-year-old girl who wished to lodge a police complaint against a man who had repeatedly raped her, and took hours to register her complaint on Monday.

"Rescuing the girl (from the rapist) was the easy part; getting a case registered was a tiresome task. At first the police (on Sunday) discouraged the girl from filing a complaint, and questioned her as if she was a criminal. A male officer asked the girl whether she had sexual intercourse with any other man," said Gopalakrishnan Aiyer, a social activist from Anand Rehabilitation Centre, which rescued the minor girl.

The girl, accompanied by representatives of the NGO, finally managed to get a complaint registered on Monday, but not before police officers made her wait for hours to have her statement noted.

Nalasopara police said the 58-year-old accused has a criminal background. Three months ago, he befriended the 17-year-old girl and later mixed a drug in her cold drink and raped her. He continued to exploit her sexually several times till date, police said.

The girl managed to speak to a female social worker on Sunday, who contacted the NGO. "The man befriended the girl and later drugged and raped her. Later, he exploited her, threatening to kill her family members. In this way the girl was trapped," said Sunila Bhise, social worker.

"I saw the girl crying. She said she cannot escape the man as he has underworld links. He boasted about the police case that he has against his name in Mumbai, and he said that he had served a sentence in a criminal case," said Bhise.

"We will register the case of rape under IPC 376 (rape) and Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences Act. We have arrested the accused and are investigating further," said a senior Nalasopara police official.

Nalasopara police needs counselling
This is not the first time that the Nalasopara police has failed to react sensitively to crime against women. The lack of female officers to take the statements of minor rape survivors-- a must, according to the new Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act-- is being neglected. After the NGO intervened in this case, the Nalasopara police brought in a female assistant inspector from Valiv police station. Burking of cases has been a regular affair in the police station. Moreover, the instances of insensitive remarks by the police have left several rape survivors humiliated.

(dna)