Chhawla rape case: Uttarakhand CM thanks Delhi L-G for approving review petition against SC order acquitting three accused

Uttarakhand: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami thanked Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena for giving a nod to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the three accused in the Chhawla rape and murder case."Thankful to Delhi Lt Gov for the decision towards the path of getting justice for the nation`s daughter. "We are standing with the victim`s family and will help in whichever way possible," CM Dhami said. The L-G`s decision has come days after the parents of the 2012 Chhawla gangrape victim met Delhi L-G VK Saxena and requested him to file a review petition against the acquittal of all three accused.

The case pertains to the alleged abduction, gang-rape, and murder of a 19-year-old girl from Uttarakhand`s Pauri by three men in the Chhawla area of the national capital`s Dwarka on February 9, 2012. In the said case, the Supreme Court, on November 7 acquitted the three accused, setting aside the Delhi High Court judgement awarding life sentences to the trio.L-G Saxena has also approved the engagement of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional SG Aishwariya Bhati to represent the government in the case before the top court.

After the release of two of the three accused from Rohini Jail, the parents of the deceased teenage girl sought police protection, out of fear. The accused were booked on February 13, 2012, and the police after investigation filed the charge sheet and the court of sessions framed charges against all three accused, namely Rahul, Ravi Kumar, and Vinod alias Chhotu on May 26, 2012.

After the trial in the case, the court of sessions convicted all three of them and awarded the death sentence on February 13, 2014, later they filed a plea which was eventually dismissed.These three accused persons then approached the Supreme Court against the HC`s judgment and the former in its November 7 judgment allowed the above appeals and the judgments and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the Trial Court and High Court were set aside.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal has taken suo moto cognizance for the welfare of the family of the 19-year-old gang rape victim whose body was found mutilated in Haryana, three days after she was abducted in 2012.The 19-year-old was a resident of Chhawla, Delhi and was abducted from Qutub Vihar. 

The girl was subjected to the utmost horror before being murdered brutally. Earlier in 2014, the trial court convicted the accused persons and accorded the death penalty to them. The Delhi High Court also upheld the judgement considering the matter to be the "rarest of rare cases".