Unnao rape: Court pulls up CBI for delay in charge sheet, absence of women officers in probe

A Delhi court pulled up CBI on Monday for delay in filing the charge sheet in Unnao gang rape case as also the absence of women officers during the probe without bothering about "harassment, anguish and re-victimisation that occur for a victim of sexual assault". The gang rape case is separate from the rape case in which expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was convicted by the court on Monday.

The woman was allegedly gang raped by three other persons on June 11, 2017 in Unnao a few days after the first (Sengar) incident. The trial is yet to commence in the case. The court expressed surprise over the delay by the CBI in filing charge sheet in the gang rape case and said it had halted the progress against Sengar and Singh in the rape case.

While pronouncing the judgement in the rape case, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, "I don't know why the CBI took so long to file the charge sheet in the gang rape case. The investigating officer had completed the entire probe by the end of July 2018 but the charge sheet was filed after more than a year. This delay halted the progress in the rape case too." The progress in the rape case was affected as the Supreme Court had halted the proceedings in the case and said that the statement of the investigating officer should not be recorded till the charge sheet in the gang rape case was filed.

"CBI has not explained the fact that when almost entire investigation had been completed by the end of July 2018, what prevented the CBI from filing the charge sheet on October 3, 2019, the court said. It also expressed displeasure over the female officers in CBI.

"According to law there should be female officers in CBI to record statement of victims in such cases but surprisingly the girl was called many times to CBI office instead of going to her residence," the court said. Investigation in such cases has to be conducted by a woman officer as mandated under Section 24 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, but the successive statements of the victim girl had been recorded by calling her to the CBI office "without bothering for the kind of harassment, anguish and re-victimisation that occurs for a victim of sexual assault in such case", it noted.

The judge also expressed displeasure that vital information concerning witnesses' statement was selectively leaked as an attempt to put a cloud over the case of the survivor. He said: "When the investigation in the alleged kidnapping, illegal confinement and gang rape of the victim girl had been taken over by them (CBI) on April 13, 2018 and it is also clear from the police report that almost entire investigation had been completed by the end of July 2018, what prevented the CBI from filing the charge sheet without any further delay and it was belatedly on October 3, 2019 after almost a year.

"And I also find from the spate of applications moved on behalf of the accused person that vital information concerning statements or version of witnesses and appears to have been selectively leaked thereby attempting to put a cloud over the case of the complainant, coupled with non examination of the huge data retrieved from the two mobile phones." The apex court, taking cognisance of the rape survivor's letter written to the then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had on August 1 transferred all five cases registered in connection with the Unnao rape incident from a Lucknow court in Uttar Pradesh to the court in Delhi with directions to hold trial on a day-to-day basis, completing it within 45 days.

The case was heard from August 5 on a day-to-day basis. However, the Supreme Court had on September 6 further extended the deadline on the request of the District Judge with liberty to seek more extension.

The court had on August 9 framed charges against the MLA and Singh under Sections 120 b (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) and other relevant sections of the POCSO Act. On July 28 this year, the car of the survivor was hit by a truck and she was severely injured. The woman's two aunts were killed in the accident and her family had alleged foul play.

The trial in the other four cases -- framing of the rape survivor's father in illegal firearms case and his death in judicial custody, conspiracy of Sengar with others in the accident case and a separate case of gang rape of the rape survivor by three others -- are ongoing in the court.