New Delhi (ILNS): The Delhi High Court has directed the Commissioner of Police to take serious and effective action against the concerned police personnel who were recalcitrant and failed to perform their duties in a case of kidnapping.
A divisional bench comprising Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar, while hearing a plea through video conferencing, noted:
“We are not only anguished but also disgusted at the manner in which the police carries out investigation in such like cases particularly when it involves the poor strata of the society.”
The petition has been filed by Sangeeta, mother of the minor girl, with regard to a kidnapping FIR registered at Mayur Vihar Police Station under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code (Kidnapping). The court noted that despite the accused being named in the FIR, no serious effort was made to locate her. “It was only when this petition was preferred and we directed transfer of the investigation to AHTU (Crime), then soon thereafter Komal has been recovered and the accused apprehended from Hathras (UP),” the court said.
The bench also noted: “
This delay on the part of the police in carrying out effective investigation has ruined not only the life of Komal (minor victim) but also the accused and put in dark the future of the child that Komal is carrying in her womb.”
The bench further observed that the complaint was neglected and not acted upon with the urgency that it deserves, just because the petitioner works as a housemaid.
The bench clarified that the action taken against those found guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty should be such that it sends a message to the entire police force.
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As per the status report, the petitioner’s minor daughter Komal has been recovered from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and the girl is now three months pregnant. Komal has been housed at Nari Niketan, at present, while the accused Sandeep is in judicial custody. Despite repeated assurances by the petitioner, the minor girl is not willing to live with her parents.
Read the order here;
98952_2020-ILNS