SC directs Uttar Pradesh DGP to form SIT to probe minor’s rape and murder in Ghaziabad
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh DGP to constitute a special investigation team to probe the case of a four-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and killed in Ghaziabad last month.
Observing that the victim’s parents were dissatisfied with the probe conducted by Ghaziabad police, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the special investigation team (SIT) should be notified preferably on Friday or by 11 am on Saturday. The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, directed that the SIT should consist of women police officers and be headed by an officer of the rank of commissioner or inspector general.
The SIT will look into all the grievances raised by the victim’s parents and also probe the role of two private hospitals, which allegedly denied treatment to the victim, the bench said.
The SIT will file its supplementary report before the concerned trial court within two weeks, the bench said, as it asked the trial court to keep the ongoing proceedings in the case in abeyance till then. The bench passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the victim’s father seeking a court-monitored probe into the case, either by an SIT or the CBI.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the police, told the bench that a chargesheet has already been filed in the case and the trial has also commenced.
While hearing the matter on April 13, the top court had flagged the “reluctance” of Ghaziabad police in lodging an FIR and conducting an investigation into the case. On March 16, a neighbour allegedly lured the victim on the pretext of buying her chocolates. When the child did not return, her father launched a search and found her lying unconscious, soaked in blood.
On April 10, the apex court had lambasted Ghaziabad police’s “insensitive approach” in the investigation of the case. The court had expressed dismay that two private hospitals in Ghaziabad had refused to admit the bleeding child, who was eventually declared dead at a Government hospital.
