The Madurai rural police can pat their back for cracking the Mexican woman murder case speedily but they detained her five-year-old child along with her accused ex-lover in a police station for two days in clear contravention of the tenets of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
Child rights activists point out children who are caught in such unfortunate situation, according to the Act, should be provided a child-friendly atmosphere.
But in this case, however, the police who had to investigate the accused Martin Manrique not only detained him but also kept the child in the police station two nights.
Police sources said Manrique, the Mexican research scholar, was picked up from his quarters on Kalasalingam university campus Monday night after suspecting his hand in the murder of his ex-girlfriend Cecile Denise Acosta who had gone there to see their daughter a few days ago.
He confessed to beating her to death and throwing her burnt body stuffed in a suitcase along roadside near Austinpatti in Madurai district.
“The girl child was also brought along with him and was kept at Tirunagar station for two nights while the father was interrogated. She was very silent and kept observing all happenings around her,” a source said.
Only on Wednesday morning, Manrique was produced before judicial magistrate VI in Madurai who sent him to Puzhal prison in Chennai, while the girl was handed over at a reception home at Muthupatti where 16 boys and four girls in need of care and protection are presently staying. Home staff confirmed her admission at about 10 am.
“The Juvenile Justice Act says children under circumstances such as this should be kept in a child-friendly environment. A police station cannot provide a congenial atmosphere. The child should have been handed over to the child welfare committee immediately,” says child welfare activist Selva Gomathy.
Child Welfare Committee, which for the first time is handling a case involving a child with foreign nationality, is sitting on Thursday to decide on the matter.
Meanwhile, police sources said Manrique’s sister would be flying to India from Mexico to take back the little girl very soon. The Mexican embassy officials visited the station Wednesday and collected details of the case.