Mainpuri rape case: The Allahabad high court directed the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday to issue an order to its officers to conclude investigations of rape cases within two months.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice AK Ojha gave the order on a Public Interest Litigation filed by one Mahendra Pratap Ojha.
The court told the state government and the police authorities to report about the progress in the investigation of alleged rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in Mainpuri. The minor was found hanging inside her school in suspicious circumstances in 2019 and her family had alleged sexual assault and murder, as per reports. The court also directed the police officials to ensure the safety of the girl's family and that they are not pressured during the investigation.
The court asked the director general of police who appeared in persons to ensure that the probe in rape cases are complete in two months. Mahendra Pratap Singh in his petition had alleged that the special investigation team (SIT) formed in the case is not functioning on its own. The DGP informed the court that the Senior advocate and bar association president Amrendra Nath Singh who is assisting the court requested to monitor the probe.
The court while giving the ruling raised the issue of poor conviction rate in rape cases in India . The court said, "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."
Mainpuri rape case:
The state government was also asked to give proper training to investigating officers on how to probe such cases and collect material evidence scientifically. The state government's counsel told the court that the police officers who were probing the case earlier have been suspended. A new SIT has been formed in the case, he said.
The mother of the girl had alleged in the FIR that her daughter had complained that she knew some secrets of the school and the principal was allegedly torturing her. The girl had called her mother just one day before her death and told her that there is a threat to her life, senior advocate Amrendra Nath Singh told the court.
The court suggested the investigating officer to collect the call details of the concerned phone numbers.
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