Udham Singh Nagar police is still groping in the dark over the incident of a private school teacher being allegedly gang-raped by four criminals at Khatima. This is despite the fact that Nainital High Court has taken a serious note of the crime and sought explanation from the State Government on the progress of the ongoing probe.
The accused had allegedly committed the crime at gun- point with masks covering their faces on December 12 night. They also allegedly looted the house later. The survivor having failed to identify the accused is stated to be delaying the probe.
A PIl was filed in the Nainital High Court where it was stated that the heinous incident involving a lady teacher was a blemish on the face of the society as a whole. Besides, it had left the local residents, especially women of the region, deeply scared, the PIl further stated.
PIl demanded the victim be given medical expense and compensation. The victim should be provided with fool-proof security, it stated, adding that the State Government should be directed to provide security to all the women living across the State. Acknowledging the PIl, the court sought an explanation from the state government on Monday, asking it to provide details of the progress of the probe into the crime.
However, police are yet to step on any clue to identify the accused despite over a week having passed since the ghastly crime had occurred.
The Udham Singh Nagar circle officer lokjeet Singh said that teams are investigating the case. Several suspects, including local residents, have been questioned, he said, adding that the survivor could not have identified the accused with the criminals being masked, leading to the delay.
“Investigation so far conducted by the team members revealed that local residents might have been involved in the crime. Team members would soon conduct DNA test of around 12 suspects in two phases. DNA of six suspects will be done in the first phase. We would crack the case and all the culprits would be brought to justice in no time,” he asserted.
However, the observer opine that the more the delay in cracking the case the deeper would be insecurity among the women. “It is clear that the criminals are pouncing on the helpless with impunity with police having failed to instill in them the fear of the law and punishment.
They feel confident that they can get with such heinous crimes because of the lackadaisical police force. Such an impression is dangerous. The sooner it is removed with justice asserting itself with a vengeance the better for the society,” says one of the observers. Notably, the survivor lives with her children with her husband being in Delhi while working for a private company.
The incident occurred at her residence located around 20 kms away from Khatima on December 12 night. Four armed criminals barged into her house from the side of the terrace and brandishing gun, they took the woman into a room where they allegedly gang-raped her.
The armed criminals later allegedly looted the house and decamped with jewellery, leaving the survivor in an unconscious state. As she narrated the incident to one of her neighbours police were informed. Based on her complaint, a case under sections 394/376 (d) of IPC was registered against four unidentified persons in Khatima police station.