Sex abuse or bug bite?

After 4-yr-old's parents file molestation case against NRI, cops say lesions on child's body may be insect bite

Sex abuse or bug bite?

After 4-yr-old's parents file molestation case against NRI, cops say lesions on child's body may be insect bite

A molestation case registered against a non-resident Indian (NRI) by the parents of a four-year-old girl may have been a hasty move, say the police. They say the uncontrollable crying of the child and lesions on her body that prompted the parents to approach the police may have been because of a bug bite.

The child had begun to cry when her parents left her for a while with Rajaneesh alias Raj Jain, a software engineer living in Uganda, at a five-star hotel dinner party in the city. When they returned after checking the menu, the parents found the child wailing and took it to two hospitals, but nobody could find anything medically wrong with the girl.

Later at home, the parents observed something wrong with the child's skin while changing diapers and concluded Jain had sexually abused the girl at the five-star.

After registering the molestation case and completing the preliminary investigation, the High Grounds police now suspect the lesions on the girl were there because she was bitten by some insect.

Defamation suit?

Jain, who has since obtained bail, has told the police he is planning a defamation case against the parents, John and Elizabeth Cleetus.

"We are investigating the case and feel that it might actually be a bug bite," Police Inspector D T Virupakshappa said. "As far as we have been able to see, the accused seems a decent man. But the court will decide on the case."

Jain came to Bangalore for the IT Biz, an infotech exhibition.

On the last day, he arrived at the Taj West End Hotel to attended a party that also had John Cleetus and his wife there. When the Cleetus couple wanted to take a look at menu, he offered to hold the child till they came back. When the couple returned to their seats after five minutes, they observed the girl was crying.

The worried couple took her to two hospitals, but no diagnosis could be reached by any of the doctors.

It was after reaching home that Elizabeth, John's wife found some scratch marks in the child's pelvic region.

They consulted a doctor to see if it could possibly be molestation, and then lodged the police complaint.

Worried about future

The police said Jain was now worried about his future.

"I have a nine-year-old child. How will I face my family with such false allegations," Jain told the police in his statement.

The Taj West End Hotel is still not commenting on exactly what happened on the day of the incident.

"There are no bugs or bees inside the hotel. We are aware of what is and what is not inside the hotel. We have never had this type of complaint," the hotel spokesperson said, adding that the hotel was not aware of any incident of alleged molestation within its premises.

The Cleetus couple were also not willing to comment.

"We have given all the medical reports to the authority. Please don't ask us anything," one of them said, and cut the call.

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