The Supreme Court on Friday blasted Ghaziabad authorities over their "indifference" and "insensitivity" in the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, summoning the police commissioner and the investigating officer with case records next week.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the submissions of senior lawyer N Hariharan, appearing for the victim's father - a daily wager, and expressed its displeasure over the manner in which the state police had conducted the investigation.
The incident took place on March 16 when the child was lured away from her home by a neighbour on the pretext of buying chocolates. The girl did not return home for a few hours, following which her father began a search and found her lying unconscious and covered in blood nearby. The girl was initially taken to two private hospitals who denied admission. She was then taken to a Ghaziabad district hospital, where the doctors declared her dead.
"The most shocking part of the alleged offence is that it exhibits complete indifference and an insensitive approach by two alleged private hospitals, as well as the local police," the top court said.
The girl's family reported the matter to the local police immediately, but instead of taking cognisance, they were physically assaulted, they said. However, after an uproar, a case was filed a day later - on March 17, and the accused was arrested on March 18. Although the FIR had no mention of POCSCO and Section 376 (punishment for rape).
"We have also seen the panchnama (spot assessment), which does not record whether the victim child was wearing clothes in the lower part of the body. But it was stated that her private part was bleeding. There were injuries to her head. The doctor who conducted post mortem has failed to record the brutal, aggravated sexual assault on the child," CJI Surya Kant said.
According to the victim's lawyer, a blunt object was inserted into her private parts, the post-mortem showed. However, the police only wanted to investigate this as a murder, he said. Additionally, the police report showed that the child was dead by the time they heard the case. However, a purported video recording showed the child was in fact alive.
The victim's lawyer told the court that her father is being asked to withdraw the case every day.
"Every day he steps out, he is being asked to withdraw the case," Senior Advocate Hariharan said.
To this, the court ordered that "no coercive action" must be taken against the petitioner or the witnesses in the case.
The Ghaziabad authorities, in their defense, told the court that a chargesheet has been filed.
"You do all hanky panky and then file a chargesheet," the CJI said.
"A court-monitored time-bound Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a central agency is required. Let a status report be filed. The commissioner of police, Ghaziabad, and the SHO of Nandgram police shall remain present. Notice is also served to the private hospitals that refused admission to the victim," the court said.
The top court also directed police authorities and hospitals to ensure the identity of the victim and family members is not disclosed.
The next hearing has been listed for Monday.
