Alleged rape and assault of a 22-year old girl by her father and his accomplices : Supreme Court orders CBI probe

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.

Man accused of raping his minor daughter multiple times acquitted by the Bombay High Court

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of justices SS Shinde and AIS Cheema recently upheld the acquittal of a 38-year old man, Anwar Shami Sheikh, who had been charged with raping his 8-year-old daughter multiple times in 2012. 

 

Bombay High Court

The court which dismissed the appeal filed by the State against the trial Court's order of acquittal, observed that there was no perversity in the findings of the trial court.

Sheikh was staying with his wife and three children, including the victim, in their house in Sangamner taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. His wife had alleged that on February 14, 2012, she woke up hearing the victim shouting loudly, and saw Sheikh raping her. A quarrel ensued and Sheikh left the house. Two and-a-half months later, the complaint was registered.

The prosecution examined around nine witnesses including the complainant and the victim. They deposed that the accused had repeatedly raped the victim and also threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed it. It was also disclosed that Sheikh would pay the victim Rs 10 after each time he raped the victim.

The defence however, denied the charges and claimed that Sheikh’s wife had falsely implicated him in the case as he had not paid her maintenance amount though she was staying with him.

The Bombay High Court, considering all the evidence on record, noted that as there was delay in filing the complaint, it disbelieved the versions of the complainant and the victim. It said: "Record shows that on an earlier occasion she had not only approached courts in a maintenance case, but also sought Sheikh's prosecution under section 498-A of IPC. Thus, in spite of knowing the system, she delayed filing a complaint in this case."

Further, there was no medical evidence of rape in the case, and hence the High Court agreed with the trial court and upheld Sheikh's acquittal.