Court orders action against police for misleading gang-rape case

A special court in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, has ordered a juvenile justice court to take action against a superintendent of police and two inspectors. They are accused of submitting a misleading report in a gang-rape case involving a 14-year-old girl. The case began when the girl went missing from her village on October 4 last year. A report was filed for her as a missing person, and after her return on October 8, authorities added gang-rape charges. This implicated a 16-year-old boy and another man. The girl's advocate, Surendra Kumar Shukla, stated that when the minor accused appeared in juvenile court, police submitted a report charging him only with kidnapping. As a result, he was granted bail, while the other accused was sent to jail. In December, the victim's father raised concerns in juvenile court, claiming the police hid evidence. After the father passed away, the girl's mother appealed to a special POCSO court, which agreed that evidence was concealed. The court directed the juvenile court to prosecute the police officers involved. Shukla also mentioned that the accused began threatening the victim's family after being released on bail. Complaints to police about these threats were dismissed as false reports. Now, the POCSO court has instructed the juvenile court to initiate prosecution against the superintendent and inspectors for misleading the legal process.