Former DGP and BJP councillor R Sreelekha has moved the High Court with a plea to quash the FIR registered against her for revealing the names of the survivors in sexual abuse cases.

A private complaint was filed against Sreelekha, alleging that she revealed the names of survivors in Kiliroor and Kaviyoor rape cases through her channel and blog, and that she mentioned the name of the survivor in a case registered at Kuruppumpadi police station. 

Museum police have registered a case against her based on this complaint under relevant sections of the BNS and POCSO. In the petition, she said she hasn’t posted any blog or vlog revealing the names of any rape survivors.

The alleged vlogs and blogs are not about any minor survivors to attract an offence under the POCSO Act, Sreelekha said in her petition, which has been filed by Advocate Sasthamangalam S Ajithkumar.

It has also questioned the Magistrate's jurisdiction to take cognisance of an offence under the POCSO Act. The petition cites that Section 72 of BNS does not prohibit the disclosure of the name of a murder victim. The victim in the Kurupampadi Police Station crime is a murder victim, Sreelekha pointed out in the petition.

 It was further pointed out in the petition that the FIR is legally unsustainable and no prosecutable offence or an offence that qualifies for investigation is disclosed. 

Recently, the corporation council witnessed uproarious scenes after the opposition alleged that Sreelekha was an accused in a POCSO case. Sreelekha is likely to be fielded as the BJP candidate in Vattiyoorkavu assembly constituency in the upcoming assembly elections. 

In a Facebook post, Sreelekha has lashed out at the police, saying that the case registered against her is legally untenable. She pointed out that the POCSO Act came into force only in 2013, while the Kiliroor and Kaviyoor incidents happened in 2004. A law cannot be applied retrospectively, she said, and therefore, POCSO provisions cannot be invoked in these cases.