Inderpuri gang-rape case

New delhi, inderpuri June 23 ’09

Case

Delhi's Inderpuri police station registered a case of gang rape of a 22-yr old woman against Station House Officer (SHO) and four other policemen.

All the policemen are confirmed to have raped the young woman after the woman claimed that she was sexually assaulted inside a police station in south-west Delhi, which led to angry protests in the area.

Gangrape has been confirmed, according to media reports

The woman, a resident of a slum cluster in the A Block of Inderpuri,shahadra area, alleged that she was taken to the Inderpuri police station by two policemen on june 22nd night at 1300 hrs

to enquire about her husband, who the police said was a “local criminal involved in betting & other illegal activity.”.

Her statement..

"My husband was not at home and the cops asked me to come with them to the police station for questioning. They raped me by turns and later threatened me with dire consequences if I revealed the incident to anyone," she told a news channel.

She also told the reporters“They put me inside a lock up and started hurling abuses and thrashed me. Then they took me upstairs where the SHO and four other uniformed men raped me. I can recognise them by face.”

The woman, informed her husband about this who took her to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital for a medical examination, where the authorities advised him to inform the police about the incident.

He called the police and reprted the incident at 10 pm

His statement..

"I came back at night from work and found my wife crying on the terrace. She told me about the incident after which I called the police,

'She was inconsolable. I along with other family members took her to the hospital where doctors treated her. I informed the police but they did not register any complaint,” said the husband.

The angry crowd..

The woman’s claims triggered protests in the area, where she resides, with a large crowd attacking and ransacking the police station.

Angered over the incident, a nearly 200-strong mob threw stones at the Inderpuri police station demanding that the complaint be registered.

The violence injured many, including journalists covering the issue.

Pacifiers..

For a good part of the morning on June 23, it seemed like a war zone outside Delhi's Indrapuri Police Station. Protesters went on a rampage

The security outside the police station was increased and extra police force was deployed to handle the angry mob.

Senior district police officers, including the area DCP (Southwest), reached the spot to pacify the protesters.

Tempers abaze over police not taking immediate action. The cops are finally forced to firefight - agreeing to tansfer the case away from Indrapuri.

Later, the case was handed over to the Delhi Police Crime Branch for impartial investigation while the SHO (Station House Officer), Pradeep Kumar, who took over the charge one month prior to the accusation was still not arrested

Shameful was the reaction. There was trouble in the handling of the case. Firstly, should the police have a role in the investigation when the accused is the polce? Secondly, the victim claimed she was turned away by doctors at RML when she approached them. Why did this happen? And finally, why is the medical report so inconclusive? Many questions with few answers from the men in charge.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government also directed the women’s commission to probe the matter.

vaginal swabs were sent for medical examinations and further tests.

Experts from the Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Rohini inspected the spots mentioned by the 22-year-old woman, who claimed the assault by SHO Pradeep Kumar and four others, whom she could identify by their faces.

"The experts examined the rooms which were mentioned by the woman in her statement. They collected samples from there.

Further investigations were done

Final word from the husband of the victim..

''The Commissioner has assured me that action will be taken against the guilty policemen. I feel that in order to restore the confidence of the people in the law and order authorities, all the policemen involved in the incident should either be dismissed from service or transferred to another police station area,'' the husband of the accused said.

He said a three-member medical team be despatched to the area. Further, he demanded that the woman victim be provided full security by the Police.

The forensic reprts..

From the forensic reports.. SK Sharma, chief medical officer at RML, said: "The preliminary medical report of the woman does not confirm rape and we have sent her clothes to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Rohini for further confirmation."

At the end of it…

...Rape of the victim was confirmed.

This incident has been such a shame to the police force of india…

Thank you…

Slide show by gayatri raikar, FYBMM, july 13 ‘09