Hathras gang rape: Allahabad HC rejects suspended SHO's plea for quashing criminal proceedings

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed by suspended station house officer Dinesh Kumar Verma seeking to quash criminal proceedings against him in a case linked to the 2020 Hathras gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman.

The petitioner SHO was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation over allegations of dereliction of duty.

Rejecting the Verma's petition for quashing of the proceedings including the summoning order issued by the CBI court, Ghaziabad, Justice Raj Beer Singh criticised the officer's conduct as it took into account both procedural violations and a glaring lack of sensitivity in handling the case.

The accused, the then SHO, Hathras, is facing CBI chargesheet for offence under sections 166A(b)(c) (failure to record information under section 154 of criminal procedure code) and 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury) of IPC.

According to the chargesheet, the accused-applicant failed to stop the media or local reporters from approaching the victim and capturing her photographs and video inside the police station despite it being his duty to safeguard the dignity of a sexual offence survivor.

It is alleged that when the victim was brought to the police station, her video was recorded by Verma, the applicant, on his mobile phone, but he failed to refer her for a sexual assault examination, despite her claiming that she had been sexually assaulted.

Besides, he also refused to take the severely injured victim to the hospital either via a police vehicle or ambulance, and instead, he compelled her family to arrange a shared auto-rickshaw for transport, despite the availability of police vehicles, according to the chargesheet.

The CBI's investigation found that, at his instance, false entries were made in the general diary, including claims that a lady constable was sent to examine the victim's injuries.

The chargesheet also claimed that without examining the victim's injuries, false entries were made stating that there were no injuries on her body.

Also, the accused-applicant failed to register a case on the basis of the statement of the victim, the CBI alleged.

It was contended by the petitioner's counsel that there was no evidence of unlawful conduct by the applicant, who managed the situation without causing panic despite the victim being suddenly brought to the police station amid a crowd and media presence.

It was also submitted that the applicant did not doubt the victim's family and immediately sent her to the hospital without examining the sexual assault issue. The counsel argued that it was a human error that he did not pay heed to the word forcefully uttered by the victim while claiming that she had been sexually assaulted.

Considering the complainant's statement, witness testimonies, and material collected during the investigation, including general diary, entries and CCTV footage from the police station, the court in its decision dated April 25 ruled that a prima facie case had indeed been established against the applicant/petitioner.

In 2020, a suo-motu case was instituted by the high court over the Hathras gang rape and cremation case to examine the right to decent and dignified last rites/cremation.

The court had taken cognizance of the rape of the woman belonging to the scheduled caste community, followed by her cremation in the intervening night of September 29-30, 2020, which appeared to be against the wishes of her family members.