Bulandshahr rape detention: SC notice to UP govt

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of a media report about detention of a ten-year-old girl by police in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. The minor had approached the police to complain about rape attempt on her. Pulling up the state government for the treatment meted out to the minor, an apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir issued a notice to it and sought response by Monday – the next date of hearing in the case. "How can the police detain a ten-year-old girl?" the bench asked. The incident took place last Monday when the minor girl went with her mother to a women`s police station to lodge a rape complaint against a 24-year-old. But instead of addressing the concerns of the distraught woman and her daughter, the women officers abused and shooed away the mother while detaining the girl in the lock up, police said. The girl was made to spend the night in the police station and was told that she "must have invited the rape". Made to sleep on the floor, the girl was released when the local TV media recorded the incident and the footage was shown to senior police officers. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gulab Singh said on Tuesday that the station house officer (SHO) and a sub-inspector have been sent to the police lines and two constables have been suspended. He said the girl has been released from the lock-up and a probe has been ordered into the incident. "A case against the youth who is alleged to have raped the minor girl has been lodged and efforts are on to nab him," a senior officer said. (With agency inputs)