The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed
the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the alleged rape and assault of a
22-year-old girl by her father and his accomplices who tried to force her into
prostitution. It has also asked the agency to look into the failure of the
Uttar Pradesh police to act on her complaint and conclude the investigation
into the crime.
"Prima
facie the police has acted in a partisan manner to shield the real
culprits," the court said while expressing its
pain that a class of women are trapped as prostitutes and rich communities
exploit them and harvest at their misery and ignominy in an 'organised
gangsterism', in particular, with police nexus.
Expressing shock at the incident, a Bench
comprising of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh said it was high
time "public spirited sections of the society" came forward to
"prevent gender exploitation of girl children".
The girl hailing from Meerut had
directly approached the apex Court through some public-spirited advocates to
narrate the story of her ordeal at the hands of her father and his accomplices,
who allegedly raped and assaulted her for not accepting their demand to enter
the flesh trade in which her family is actively involved.
"Having
regard to the facts, sequence of events and inordinate delay in the
investigation of the case, it would show that the investigation by the state
police authorities is not being conducted in a proper direction,"
the court said.
The Supreme Court said that the case
was fit to be handed over for independent probe since serious allegations have
also been levelled against the Uttar Pradesh Police.
"More
than two years have passed but the police failed to conclude the investigation,
which goes to show that police have not acted in a forthright manner in investigating
the case. Prima facie the police has acted in a partisan manner to shield the
real culprits and the investigation of the case is not being conducted in a
proper and objective manner. Since local police is allegedly involved as per
the statement of the petitioner recorded under Section 164, there may not be
fair investigation," the Bench observed, while passing the
order handing over to the CBI.
