New Delhi, August 28: The Delhi High Court on Monday took note on its own of the case involving the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl by a suspended Delhi government official named Premudai Khakha and his wife, who reportedly gave her medication to terminate her pregnancy.
Additional Sessions Judge (POCSO) Richa Parihar of Tess Hazare Courts extended their judicial detention on August 23 by 14 days.
A sworn panel of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula took note of it on its own, and referred the matter to the next hearing on September 14.
During the hearing, the court asked the Delhi Police to file a case report and ensure that the identity of the minor is protected and prevented from being disclosed.
The Delhi police informed the court of the critical condition of the young victim, who is currently in hospital. They reported that she had an epileptic seizure on Sunday.
The authority also requested a case report from the Delhi Government’s Department of Women and Child Development.
The lawyer of the National Committee for the Protection of Child Rights told the court that the committee had taken note of the incident and that it would also provide a response in this regard.
Both Khakha and his wife, Seema Rani, were separately brought before the capital’s judge, Katyaini Sharma Kandwal, on August 22, who sent them into judicial custody for a day.
On August 21, 51-year-old Khakha, who has been suspended as deputy director of the Delhi Government’s Department of Women and Child Development, and his wife were arrested by the Delhi Police after being interrogated for several hours at their home. This step came after the victim recorded her statement before the investigating judge at the city hospital.
The couple are residents of Shakti Enclave in Burari district. The accused allegedly raped the victim repeatedly between 2020 and 2021. A police source said that the accused continued to rape his friend’s underage daughter for several months, during which his wife allegedly also assisted him.
“Since his wife also assisted him in the act and did not report the matter to the police, we have added Section 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) in the FIR against his wife,” the police source said.
“The most shocking thing is that when the victim became pregnant, she was threatened with dire consequences by the accused. When the accused told the matter to his wife, instead of helping the victim, the woman sent her son to buy abortion pills, which she gave to the victim,” the source said.
Police said a case has been registered under the relevant sections of the POCSO Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused.
The victim had met the accused in the church. After befriending the girl, the accused took her to his home under the pretext of helping her. In 2020, the victim’s father passed away, after which she fell into depression.
–IANSspr/dpb
Source: IANS
Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the WBSETCL team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.
