1 day Ago
Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has dismissed a petition filed by suspended station house officer (SHO) Dinesh Kumar Verma seeking to quash criminal proceedings, including the summoning order issued by CBI court, Ghaziabad, in connection with the 2020 Hathras gang rape and murder case of a 19-year-old Dalit woman. The petitioner was booked in the case over allegations of dereliction of duty. Dismissing the petition, Justice Raj Beer Singh in his decision dated April 25, criticised the officer's conduct as it took into account both procedural violations and lack of sensitivity in handling the case involving the gang rape survivor who later succumbed to her injuries.
The accused is facing CBI's charge-sheet for offence under sections 166A(b)(c) (failure to record information given to him under section 154 of CrPC concerning sexual offences) and 167 of IPC that deals with public servant framing an incorrect document with an intent to cause injury. According to the chargesheet, the accused-applicant failed to stop the media from approaching the victim and capturing her photographs and video inside the police station, despite it being his duty to safeguard the dignity of a sexual offence survivor. It is alleged that when the victim was brought to the police station, the SHO shot her video on his mobile phone but failed to refer her for a medical examination despite her claiming that she had been sexually assaulted.
Besides, he also refused to take the severely injured victim to the hospital either via a police vehicle or ambulance, and instead, compelled her family to arrange a shared auto-rickshaw for transport. The CBI probe alleged that, at his instance, false entries were made in the general diary, including claims that a woman constable was sent to examine the victim's injuries, even though the constable arrived after the victim had already been taken to the hospital. The chargesheet also claimed that, without examining the victim's injuries, false entries were made stating that there were no injuries to her body.
Also, the accused-applicant failed to register a case based on the victim's statement. His counsel contended that there was no evidence of unlawful conduct by the applicant, who managed the situation without causing panic, despite the victim being suddenly brought to the police station amid a crowd and media presence. It was also submitted before the bench that the applicant did not doubt the victim's family and immediately sent her to the hospital without examining the sexual assault issue and that it was a human error that he did not pay heed to the word "zabardasti" uttered by the victim while claiming that she had been sexually assaulted.
Considering the complainant's statement, witness testimonies, and material collected during the investigation, including general diary, entries and CCTV footage from the police station, the court concluded that a prima facie case had been established against him. In 2020, a suo moto case was instituted by the high court over the Hathras gang rape and cremation case to examine the right to decent and dignified last rites. The court had taken cognizance of the rape of the 19-year-old Dalit girl by four men on Sep 14, 2020.
The girl was shifted to a Delhi hospital for treatment but died two weeks later. She was cremated on the intervening night of Sep 29/30, 2020, apparently against the wishes of her family members. Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has dismissed a petition filed by suspended station house officer (SHO) Dinesh Kumar Verma seeking to quash criminal proceedings, including the summoning order issued by CBI court, Ghaziabad, in connection with the 2020 Hathras gang rape and murder case of a 19-year-old Dalit woman.
The petitioner was booked in the case over allegations of dereliction of duty. Dismissing the petition, Justice Raj Beer Singh in his decision dated April 25, criticised the officer's conduct as it took into account both procedural violations and lack of sensitivity in handling the case involving the gang rape survivor who later succumbed to her injuries. The accused is facing CBI's charge-sheet for offence under sections 166A(b)(c) (failure to record information given to him under section 154 of CrPC concerning sexual offences) and 167 of IPC that deals with public servant framing an incorrect document with an intent to cause injury.
According to the chargesheet, the accused-applicant failed to stop the media from approaching the victim and capturing her photographs and video inside the police station, despite it being his duty to safeguard the dignity of a sexual offence survivor. It is alleged that when the victim was brought to the police station, the SHO shot her video on his mobile phone but failed to refer her for a medical examination despite her claiming that she had been sexually assaulted. Besides, he also refused to take the severely injured victim to the hospital either via a police vehicle or ambulance, and instead, compelled her family to arrange a shared auto-rickshaw for transport.
The CBI probe alleged that, at his instance, false entries were made in the general diary, including claims that a woman constable was sent to examine the victim's injuries, even though the constable arrived after the victim had already been taken to the hospital. The chargesheet also claimed that, without examining the victim's injuries, false entries were made stating that there were no injuries to her body. Also, the accused-applicant failed to register a case based on the victim's statement.
His counsel contended that there was no evidence of unlawful conduct by the applicant, who managed the situation without causing panic, despite the victim being suddenly brought to the police station amid a crowd and media presence. It was also submitted before the bench that the applicant did not doubt the victim's family and immediately sent her to the hospital without examining the sexual assault issue and that it was a human error that he did not pay heed to the word "zabardasti" uttered by the victim while claiming that she had been sexually assaulted. Considering the complainant's statement, witness testimonies, and material collected during the investigation, including general diary, entries and CCTV footage from the police station, the court concluded that a prima facie case had been established against him.
In 2020, a suo moto case was instituted by the high court over the Hathras gang rape and cremation case to examine the right to decent and dignified last rites. The court had taken cognizance of the rape of the 19-year-old Dalit girl by four men on Sep 14, 2020. The girl was shifted to a Delhi hospital for treatment but died two weeks later.
She was cremated on the intervening night of Sep 29/30, 2020, apparently against the wishes of her family members..
