The Central Bureau of Investigation is awaiting a notification from the Department of Personnel and Training to take over the probe into the gang rape and murder of two minor girls at Badaun in Uttar Pradesh.
Following a public outrage over the gruesome incident at Katra Sahadatganj village, U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday decided to >transfer the case to the CBI . “As per rules, the State government writes to the Union Home Ministry seeking a CBI probe into any case. The recommendation is forwarded to the DoPT, which issues the necessary notification,” said an official.
Although in the recent Nido Tania murder case, the agency was initially of the view that it did not require investigations by a Central agency as the case had already been solved by the Delhi Police, CBI sources said it has no reservations at this stage in taking over the Badaun case.
The agency had earlier in October 2011 taken over investigations in the abduction and murder of Bhanwari Devi, a local folk singer from Berunda village of Jodhpur, on the request of the Rajasthan government.
While the Home Ministry is yet to receive a formal communication from the U.P. government, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an NGO, has sought action against the police officers responsible for “shielding” the accused in the gangrape and murder of the cousins.
“Adding to this absolutely failed state of policing is the fact that the head of the local police outpost had ignored previous complaints of harassment of the girls. The horrible incident is another demonstration of the complete breakdown of law and order in Uttar Pradesh and the fear under which the poor especially live,” said a CHRI statement.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Uttar Pradesh had registered 23,569 cases of crimes against women in 2012.
CHRI has also demanded the accused police officers should be booked under Section 166A (disobeying directions under the law) of the Indian Penal Code.
