Residents take to streets, demand strict action

The recent gruesome rape and murder of a minor girl in Uttarkashi has stirred strong emotions across the state with protest being held daily. The Haridwar district is no exception. A number of social organisations have taken to the streets to vent anguish over it and demand immediate arrest of the culprits and  their exemplary punishment. At the same time, the ghastly crime in Uttarkashi has stirred the memory of a similar crime committed on a minor at Pherupur village here  in January 2014.   It is still unresolved despite CBI, the premier investigating agency of the country, taking it up and questioning close to six hundred people who were subjected to DNA tests too in search of a concrete lead into the crime. 

Observers say that the frequent changes of CBI sleuths probing the case over four and a half years are behind the case remaining inconclusive.  It was in May last year that a CBI team from Delhi inspected the site of the incident. They claimed to have talked to the family members of the victim and got some important clues into the crime. The team returned to Delhi after around three hours of investigation. Before the team left, the officers expressed hope that the rape/murder case would be solved soon.   Nothing has happened since then.

Notably, on January 7, 2014, body of a minor girl had been recovered from sugarcane fields in Pherupur village under Pathri police station limit. The post- mortem report had confirmed that the girl was raped before she was killed.  After the local police had failed to make much headway the probe had been handed over to CBI following intensified stir by the angry villagers.

The CBI team comprising DIG  CBI Sharad Agarwal, ASP Asrey, inspector Prashant and a woman officer had inspected Pherupur on  May 26, 2017.  Earlier too, the team had inspected the area. However, all such inspections and investigations having failed to unravel the crime and pin down the criminals, the   probe had been assigned to a woman officer.  The team had said that the crime had some connection with another crime committed a few months after it was committed.  The team had also collected records of the crimes perpetrated against the girls from the police stations over the past two years.  The police then had claimed that they were closer to resolving the case. However, the crime has remained unsolved till date and the perpetrators are moving freely.