Don't know about POCSO Act: senior police officer

A senior Gujarat police official, who had investigated the rape case of a minor girl, told a court here that he does not have knowledge of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
During cross examination by a defence lawyer, deputy Superintendent of Police with State Intelligence Bureau, Dharmendra Desai told the court on Wednesday last that he does not know about the Act, nor does he know the full form of POCSO or when the Act was introduced.
He also informed the special POCSO judge B N Makwana that he was not aware about the amendments to the rape law.

"I do not know when the POCSO Act was introduced. I do not know the full form of POCSO," he said.
Desai was the police inspector of Nikol police station when a rape case of a minor under POCSO Act was lodged on June 18, 2015.
When asked by the defence lawyer about the sections of the Act that deals with aggravated, penetrative sexual assault, the official said that he does not know the provisions of punishment under sections 3 and 4 of the POCSO Act.

He also told the court that he has no knowledge about the amendments to laws dealing with rape.

Desai told the court that he did not verify the age of the victim, a minor girl, with birth registration officer, and nor did he recommend DNA test of the accused.
"I do not know if there have been amendments to laws dealing with rape," he said.
"I did not recommend a DNA test in a list of samples sent to the FSL (Forensic Sciences Laboratory) for analysis," he said.
A minor girl was allegedly raped by a youth known to her in June 2015. A complaint was lodged in July with Nikol police station of the city, where Desai was senior police inspector.