New Delhi: Amidst strong protests over the rape and brutality meted out to a five-year-old girl here, union home minister Sushil kumar Shinde on Monday April 22 tabled a statement in both the houses of Parliament related to the horrific case.
In a bid to assuage the raging protests, Shinde said rapes are taking place not just in Delhi but across India.
Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Shinde had said an inquiry has been ordered into the lapses on part of police to investigate the disappearance of the five-year-old girl and attempt to hush up the matter. Shinde gave details of the incident in Gandhi Nagar area of East Delhi on April 15 and the investigations conducted so far.
He said the Station House Officer (SHO) and the Investigating Officer (IO) have been placed under suspension taking note of the lapses in the investigation.
The Joint Commissioner of Police (vigilance) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The Joint Commissioner of Police (vigilance) shall also enquire into the allegation that the local police paid some money to the father of the victim to hush up the case, said minister Shinde in the statement which was laid in the House.
The victims parents had alleged that some police personnel had offered them Rs 2,000 and told them to keep quiet over the issue.
Shinde said 2 accused have been arrested in connection with the case.
Medical examination of the first accused, arrested from Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on April 19, has been conducted for DNA, said Shinde.
The accused is presently under judicial custody. Speaking against the backdrop of major uproar and street protests, Shinde informed the House that the five-year-old girl was reported missing on April 15 and an FIR was registered at 10.00pm.
The police started searching and conducting raids in the East Delhi area, said minister Shinde.
In the early hours of Wednesday April 17, the mother of the girl heard weeping sound of the child from the ground floor of the same house where her parents lived on the first floor, Shinde said.
The ground floor was found locked from outside and the police, when informed, broke open the door and recovered the child, said Shinde.
The girl was rushed to Swami Dayanand Hospital, which is the nearest, and preliminary medico-legal case confirmed ‘sexual assault of brutal kind, said Shinde.
Her condition was reported to be stable after an operation conducted on Thursday April 18. She was later shifted to AIIMS on Friday April 19 for better treatment and presently her condition is reported to be stable, said Shinde.
In the meantime, on Friday April 19, some protesters were holding demonstration at the Dayanand Hospital where the minister concerned of Delhi government was visiting to enquire about the health of the child along with the local MP, said Shinde.
Some protesters tried to break through the police cordon around the hospital in order to enter the premises, said Shinde.
An Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) was seen on camera slapping one of the lady protesters, said minister Shinde, adding the officer B S Ahlawat has been placed under suspension with immediate effect.
