New Delhi:
The Delhi Police's Vigilance Department has reportedly indicted two cops of negligence in investigating the kidnapping and rape of a 5-year-old girl in the capital by her neighbour. The cops in question are the Station House Officer or SHO of Gandhinagar police station and the First Investigating Officer in the case.
The five-year-old was kidnapped on April 14 while she was playing outside her home. She was discovered three days later, battered and bleeding, in a tiny room below her home, where she had been kept hostage, starved, tortured and raped. Two men have been arrested for the crime.
The girl's family had alleged that when they reported her missing, police officers refused to help, and when she was later found by neighbours, the SHO offered them a bribe to buy their silence. Sources say that the SHO has reportedly told the vigilance team that he gave the child's family money to help them.
Both SHO and the Investigating Officer are under suspension pending a departmental inquiry.
The incident triggered large street protests in Delhi and new promises of "action not words" from the government.
Doctors attending to the child at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have said the child is slowly healing and should be able to go home soon.