The CBI court has sentenced two Haryana policemen to imprisonment for 10 years and also slapped a penalty of Rs 40,000 after holding them guilty in Sarita rape and suicide case which rocked the State five years ago.
The court also awarded one year jail to three others policemen under Sections 342 (for wrongful confinement) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record) for confining the victim’s husband in custody and framing him in a theft case. It has also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on the three culprits.A 25-year-old Sarita, a resident of Rohtak, had committed suicide after consuming some poisonous substance at Haryana police headquarters here on June 9, 2008.
Sarita in her suicide note had accused head constable Balraj and constable Silak Ram of raping her at the CIA police station in Rohtak on April 10, 2008. “I am committing suicide as no action is being taken against the accused. The police are trying to protect the accused and her family is being threatened with dire consequences,” she had said in the suicide note.
According to the information, the CIA staff had picked up her husband Subhash in a theft case on April 9, 2008. On April 24, Subhash was released on bail after which Sarita lodged a complaint with the police on April 26 alleging that she was raped by two cops on April 10 who called her at the police station on the pretext of signing papers for Subhash’s release.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court took a suo-motu action on the basis of news reports asking the State Government to file a detailed status report within two weeks on circumstances that drove Sarita to take the extreme step.later, the State Government had also handed over the case to the CBI for further investigation. Since then, the case was pending before the CBI court which pronounced its verdict on Sunday awarding 10 year jail to head constable Balraj and constable Silak Ram besides imposing a fine of Rs 40,000 each on them.
Apart from 10-year imprisonment under Section 376 (rape), Balraj and Silak Ram have also been awarded one-year imprisonment under Section 342 and 218 of the IPC.