Cops seek fresh forensic interview of Vibgyor kid

The Bangalore police have approached an NGO to conduct fresh forensic interview of the six-year-old child who was allegedly gang-raped at Vibgyor High school.

The child had not been able to identify the perpetrators or reveal anything concrete about the sexual abuse, during a series of forensic reviews by psychiatry experts from a major City institution.

So, a senior IPS officer has now approached the NGO, sources said. The NGO is considered an expert organisation in the field of personal safety education among children and had conducted forensic interviews of children in sexual abuse cases earlier.

Although the interviews have been conducted by experts in child psychiatry who followed all protocols, it has not yielded results that could help the police crack the case on the basis of strong evidence.

The interviews not bringing out the entire facts can also be due to the hyperactive nature of the child, who has not been able to reveal much about the incident till date, the sources said. 

According to one of the police officers, the child is very inconsistent in identifying people. In one of the interviews, she even tried to poke an official in the eye with a pen.

Many interviews

According to sources, the child has undergone many interviews, not just by child psychiatrists but also by a host of officials who are part of the investigation team.

The girl, who suffered physical trauma following the incident, had to also bear the brunt of too many interviews, the sources said. With the new twist to the investigation following the arrest of two gym instructors by the police on Tuesday, the police does not want to leave anything to chance.

Forensic interviews are conversations by qualified persons with children who are victims of sexual abuse.

They are  attempts to find out more information about the incident without discomforting the child and to help the investigation. These interviews are generally conducted in a more relaxed manner to ensure that the child is comfortable talking.

 They are conducted by the expert in the presence of a person whom the child trusts, usually parents, and a police officer in plain clothes to record statements.

The interviewer establishes a good rapport by making the child emotionally comfortable. The interviews can be conducted even by playing games using dolls and familiarising the child with anatomy, safe and unsafe touch and also asking questions about the perpetrators and the incident, experts say.