No one but the parents can instil discipline in a “spoilt” child and neither police nor the judiciary can interfere in the matter, the high court has observed.

Justice Dipankar Dutta on Monday refused to come to the aid of an “embarrassed” father, who alleged that his 12-year-old daughter has been squeezing money from him, and even stealing household items, at the bidding of her 19-year-old boyfriend.

“It’s entirely your problem. You will have to control your daughter yourself. Neither the court nor the police can help you. If necessary, send your daughter to a counsellor who will help her understand the reality,” the judge said, while dismissing the petition of Ranjit Mitra, who had prayed for an order asking the police to take action against the youth.

Mitra, a Tiljala-based doctor, had claimed in the petition that his daughter, a student of Class VI in an English-medium school, has been in a “relationship” with Atiff Hussein Khan, a local youth, for the past few months.

“Atiff, a vagabond, has been forcing the girl to bring money from her father for their frequent trips to amusement zones,” said Mitra’s lawyer Dipankar Dhar. “Under his influence, the girl has been demanding huge sums from my client. When he refused to pay up, she started stealing valuables from the house. She even stole my client’s laptop after breaking open the almirah,” Dhar submitted.

An “embarrassed” father was then forced to send the daughter to a relative’s house in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. “But since the exams were nearing, he brought her back to Tiljala early this month,” Dhar added.

On January 11, Mitra lodged a complaint against Atiff with Tiljala police station. “But the cops did not take any action,” Dhar alleged.

Appearing for the police, Suman Ghosh said: “A case under Section 107 CrPC (maintaining peace in a locality) has been started against the youth. What else can the police can do?” Ghosh also claimed that the girl and Atiff were just friends. “How can we interfere in the matter?” he asked.