The Allahabad High Court Thursday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to issue an order directing its officers to complete investigation into rape cases within two months. A two-judge bench comprising acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice AK Ojha passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation filed by a person named Mahendra Pratap Singh. The court directed the state government and the police authorities to apprise it in a month on the progress in the investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in Mainpuri. She was found hanging inside her school in suspicious circumstances in 2019 and her family had alleged she was sexually assaulted before being killed.
The court further directed the police authorities that they must ensure the safety of the girl's family and also that they are not pressured during the investigation. The bench told the Director General of Police, who appeared in person, to ensure that probe in rape cases are completed within two months. The court, however, exempted him from personal appearance on the next date of hearing.
In the PIL, Mahendra Pratap Singh alleged the police were not fairly investigating the Mainpuri incident and were protecting the actual accused. The petitioner further alleged a Special Investigation Team formed in the case was not acting independently. On Thursday, the DGP informed that a new SIT is formed to investigate the case. Senior advocate and bar association president Amrendra Nath Singh, who is assisting the court requested it to monitor the probe. The court then directed the authorities concerned to apprise it with the progress of the investigation in one month and ordered to list the matter after that.
During the course of hearing, the court expressed concern on the issue of poor rate of conviction in the country. We are aware of the fact that the conviction rate in India is just above 6%, the reason is poor or manipulated investigation by the police. Most of the time material evidences are not collected in a scientific manner and hence, experts fail to reach any conclusion resulting in acquittal of accused persons in most of the cases." The court also directed the state government that investigating officers must be given proper training on how to investigate such cases and collect material evidence scientifically. The AAG, representing the state government, informed the court the police officers who were initially investigating the case were suspended. Further, a new SIT was formed to investigate the case afresh.
Senior advocate Amrendra Nath Singh informed that the mother of the girl had alleged in the FIR that her daughter used to complain that she knew some secrets of the school and that's why the principal was torturing her. Singh further said the girl had called her mother just one day prior to her death and said she was getting threats for her life.
On which, the court suggested that the investigating officer must collect the call details of the concerned phone numbers and use them as material evidence in the case.
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