The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday has called for a clarification from the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police and the members of the Special Investigation Team over the alleged police inaction in the probe into the death of a 16-year-old girl from Mainpuri, who was found hanged in her school in 2019.
The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Anil Kumar Ojha passed this order while hearing a PIL filed by Mahendra Pratap Singh. The UP DGP was present before the court today, pursuant to its direction issued yesterday.
The Court said despite the seriousness shown by the Court to the case and the manner of the investigation coupled with direction against the defaulting police officer, no follow-up action has been taken and rather the matter is not being briefed to the DGP, Uttar Pradesh to know the sensitivity of the case.
“In view of the above, we are left with no option but to keep the matter tomorrow, i.e, September 16, 2021 at 10 am. The Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh and members of SIT would remain present in the Court to clarify about the action of the Police Authorities in making the investigation and further as to why the disciplinary action against the then Superintendent of Police, Mainpuri could not be completed before his retirement almost six months back, as stated,”
-the court ordered.
Although the police had initially claimed that it was a suicide, the 16-year old’s mother had alleged that she was harassed, beaten and assaulted, and thereafter hanged.
On Tuesday, the Court noted that though the FIR dated September 16, 2019 was lodged on September 17, 2021 having allegation and naming the accused but interrogation of those accused was not made immediately or within reasonable time rather it was almost after three months.
It is despite serious allegations against the accused. The investigating officer present in Court could not explain the delay in interrogating the accused in a case where a girl aged about 16 years was found hanged in the school.
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The postmortem report shows no injury other than the ligature mark. The Court called upon the photographs of the girl which needs to be taken at the time of preparation of “Panchnama”. The photographs are not available though it is stated that the video was taken.
The Court was informed that the then Superintendent of Police, Mainpuri had been shifted after the incident and was otherwise facing disciplinary inquiry, which was said to have not been completed before his retirement.
“It was due to his misdeeds in the investigation where a report came showing semen in the vagina of the girl and sperm in undergarment,” the Court said. Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal has been asked to arrange for the exhibition of the video in the Court.