Court seeks probe report on school rape

GREATER NOIDA: The Allahabad high court has directed the officer investigating the alleged rape of a nursery student in a Greater Noida school to submit a report on the status of the probe within four weeks and asked the Gautam Budh Nagar SSP to “personally monitor” the case.
A bench of the court was hearing a writ petition filed by the father of the girl on October 5, seeking directions to Greater Noida police to investigate the case in a “free, fair, unbiased and time-bound manner”.

The petition had mentioned that though the main accused, Chandi Das, had been arrested and a chargesheet filed against him, no action had been taken against the principal and the girl’s class teacher. The principal and the teacher have been booked under Section 19 of the POCSO Act, Section 503 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and the Section 75 of the Juvenile Act.

The court issued the directives to police on October 9. “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the petitioner, the SSP Gautam Budh Nagar is directed to ensure that the investigation with respect to aforesaid two co-accused persons shall be concluded by the investigating officer of the present case in a fair manner who shall conclude the investigation and submit a police report before the court concerned expeditiously preferably within the period of four weeks from the date of production of a certified copy of this order before him,” the order reads.

The court also noted that principal had on August 31 filed a writ petition seeking that the FIR against her be quashed. A bench had imposed a stay on her arrest.

Contacted, Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Ajay Pal Sharma said he was yet to receive a copy of the order. “If the court has sought a status report, it will be sent within the prescribed time,” he said.

Repeated calls to the principal met with the response that it was out of reach. A message sent to her number also did not elicit any response.

The principal had also sought a stay seeking that the FIR against the main accused be quashed. However, the high court had refused to interfere with the FIR, saying that “it appears that on the basis of the allegations made therein prima facie, cognizable offense is made out, hence, there is no scope for interfering with the impugned FIR”.