Despite doctors confirming that the six-month-old girl from Dadar was sexually assaulted, the Shivaji Park police have written to the doctors asking if the girl could have been bitten by a rat.

On February 6, DNA had reported of how the police initially dismissed the sexual assault even after a team of doctors from KEM hospital submitted medical reports stating a vaginal tear due to ‘forceful penetration’. Following the DNA report, the police registered a case against unknown persons under section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the IPC. Stunned by the police’s insensitivity, the National Commission of Women (NCW) have decided to take up the matter with the police commissioner. The commission will also speak to the police academy director to introduce a special section on how to deal with women-related crimes during their training period.

Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkar, in charge of NCW, Maharashtra, said, “Just because she is a street vendor’s daughter, the police are taking the case lightly.” She further added that when the medical reports clearly suggest sexual assault, then why is the police not taking any action? “While we will wait for the forensic laboratory reports, I will speak to the Mumbai police commissioner about the police’s high handedness,” said Prabhavalkar.

As the victim’s mother has refused to pursue the case, Prabhavalkar suggested that she will take the help of a counsellor to convince the mother. “Only she can give us a realistic picture on what happened that evening, and perhaps, the culpability of the offence can be fixed up,” added Prabhavalkar.

Emphasising the need to sensitise the police on handling such crimes against women/girl child, Prabhavalkar said that she will also speak to the director of the Maharashtra police academy Sanjay Barve.

“It is critical to sensitise our policemen at the recruitment level on how to deal with crimes against women/girl child. We should also look into the steps taken abroad on such cases,” she added.