The Supreme Court has taken strict steps on the case of sexual harassment of a 4 year old girl in Gurugram. The parents had filed a petition complaining about repeated harassment of the girl, slow investigation and imposition of weak sections. After investigating the facts, the Supreme Court expressed unhappiness over the functioning of the police. The court issued a show cause notice to the police officers involved in the case.
Strict steps of the court
The bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant has handed over the investigation to the special investigation team of three women IPS officers – Kala Ramachandran, Nazneen Bhasin and Anshu Singla. A notice has been issued to the members of the Child Welfare Committee of Gurugram for writing a weak account of the crime, ignoring the statement of the victim. He has been asked why he should not be removed from the post. Show cause notice has also been issued to the doctor of Max Hospital who changed her stand after first reporting the sexual harassment of the girl.
What happened in the first hearing?
First of all, on Friday, March 20, senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi presented the matter before Chief Justice Surya Kant. He had told that some people including the domestic help were involved in the case. But no one is being arrested. The court posted the case for hearing on Monday, March 23. Meanwhile, the police had arrested some accused. But the court found it inadequate.
The girl was harassed in the name of investigation
During the hearing, the Supreme Court was told that the girl was repeatedly taken to the police station, hospital and Child Welfare Committee. Policemen in uniform kept coming to him. He was made to stand in front of the accused to identify them, whereas this process could have been done through photographs of the accused. The magistrate also behaved insensitively. He repeatedly told the girl to ‘tell the truth, tell the truth’. This interrogation of the girl was also done in the presence of the accused.
Police Commissioner was summoned
On March 23, the Chief Justice had expressed strong displeasure over the matter and said, ‘A 4-year-old girl is facing insensitivity. Instead of registering an FIR, the police asked the family what they wanted. What kind of methodology is this?’ The court asked the Gurugram Police Commissioner and the investigating officer to come to the court in person on March 25 with complete records. Now the investigation of the case has been handed over to SIT. The next hearing of the case will be on 6 April.
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