Dayashankar case: Pocso Act against Mayawati, Nasemmuddin Siddiqui

The Lucknow police on Sunday night invoked the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act of 2012 in the FIR lodged against BSP leaders Mayawati, Nasemmuddin Siddiqui and others for making objectionable remarks against female family members, particularly the minor daughter of expelled BJP leader Dayashankar Singh, during a party protest here on July 21.

Lucknow SSP Manzil Saini said on Monday that sub-section 1 of Section 11 of the Pocso Act would be included in the FIR which was lodged by expelled BJP leader Dayashankar’s mother Tetra Devi and wife Swati Singh in connection with the July 21 demonstration of the BSP in which protesters shouted the alleged slogans.

As per sub section (1) of section 11 of Pocso Act of 2012, a person is said to commit sexual harassment on a child when such person utters any word or makes any sound, or makes any gesture or exhibits any object or part of body with the intention that such word or sound shall be heard, or such gesture or object or part of body shall be seen by the child. The FIR (Case Crime Number 458/16) lodged on July 22 till now included Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153(A) (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race etc), 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509 (uttering any word intended to insult the modesty of a woman, etc).

The investigating officer (IO) of the case, Durga Dutt Singh, has also recorded the statements of Swati Singh at her residence where she narrated how the statements made by the BSP leaders and protestors had taken their toll on her 12-year-old daughter. “I told the IO how my daughter took ill after she heard the slogans being raised against her on news channels. She locked herself in the room and refused to talk to anyone,” Mr Swati told reporters. She further said that the incident had taken such a heavy toll on the child that she had to be taken to a doctor.

Dayashankar’s family had earlier met UP governor Ram Naik and submitted a memorandum.