Sexually exploited by driver, 3 siblings face mother's wrath

"In the present case, all the three child victims appear to have been physically assaulted repeatedly while in the custody of their mother," said Additional Sessions Judge Santosh Snehi Mann in her order dismissing the bail plea of cab driver Lalit Ratawal.

Disturbed by the worsening plight of the children, the judge wanted the state to intervene in the matter to ensure chidlren's welfare.

The court made the "shocking and disturbing" findings in the medical reports of the three children examined on three different dates after the arrest of the accused on September 17 last year and when they were in the custody of their own mother.

"The material on record reveals a very dismal picture and plight of the child victims of the sexual assault in this case. Instead of being treated with sympathy and compassion, the children, who are the victims of the sexual assault, were constantly physically abused and appear to have been treated with utmost cruelty while in the custody of their mother.

"One cannot stop wondering at the motive and the intention of the custodian (mother) for giving such a treatment to the hapless children," said an agitated judge.
The probe into the case of the three siblings, including their 12-year-old sister, has been handed over to the Delhi Police's Crime Branch.But the court lambasted the Crime Branch also for failing to notice during their investigation the cruel treatment meted out to the children in the custody of their own mother.

"Though the action was initiated on the statements of the children for the sexual assault against the accused and other opersons (two juveniles), but it is disturbing and shocking that the investigating agency took no action and turned a blind eye to the glaring evidence of continuous phyisical abuse and trauma suffered by the three children in the custody of their mother," the court said.

The court sought the state's intervention in the matter, noting that one of the siblings has gone missing since January three.