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.