Minor girl alleges molestation by judicial officer
A judicial officer has been accused of engaging in an obscene act with a minor girl, with the Civil Bar Association today threatening to boycott the court of the magistrate concerned until action was taken against him in the matter.
According to Dinesh Kumar Pandey, the secretary of the lawyers' body, a 13-year-old girl has complained to their president that the said magistrate locked her inside a room and tried to engage in an obscene act with her when she went to him on January 21 to record her statement in a case of kidnapping.
Gonda SP Navneet Rana said that he had written to the Gonda district judge regarding the incident and was awaiting his orders before taking any steps.
"When it involves a judicial officer, we cannot simply register a case on our own. We have to seek permission (before acting)... if we receive orders, then we will register a case," Rana said.
According to Pandey, the girl had gone to the magistrate to register her statement over her alleged kidnapping on December 13 last year. She was recovered by the police on January 14, he said.
Pandey alleged that when the girl raised an alarm, the magistrate got her to sign a blank sheet of paper and asked her to leave the room.
Pandey said that calls for an FIR to be registered and an independent probe opened into the case were made at a meeting of the bar association held yesterday.
The lawyers also staged a demonstration after which the district judge gave an assurance to them that the matter had been referred to the administrative officials of the High Court.
