CBI to probe Bulandshahr gang-rape case

The Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a CBI probe into the gang-rape of a minor and her mother on a highway in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahar district, about 500 km from here, last month.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma passed the order after expressing displeasure over the police investigation in the matter so far.

The court had earlier observed that the women were not safe in Uttar Pradesh and lambasted the police for not being able to ensure safety of the people on highways. Earlier the court had sought status report from the government.

Armed bandits had waylaid the family near Dostpur village in the district while they were on the way to Shahjahanpur to attend a function on the night of July 29.

The bandits then overpowered the occupants and took them a few metres away from the highway into a muddy sugar cane field, where they tied the three male members and gang-raped the minor and her 35-year-old mother.

The police had claimed to have cracked the case and arrested six people, including the main accused Saleem Bawaria, member of the “Bawaria gang”, a notorious criminal nomadic tribe.

As the incident triggered a massive outrage, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suspended seven police personnel, including the then district police chief.