The DNA test results of all 277 suspects in the case of alleged murder of a class 11 student of a Centre-run school in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri have been sent back for re-examination as the Allahabad High Court is unsatisfied with the progress in the investigation.
In 2019, she was found dead in her hostel. Her family had alleged that she was sexually assaulted before being murdered as she knew “secret things” about the school and that the police were trying to protect the accused in the case—the principal, hostel warden and another person. The police had prima facie called it a case of death by suicide. In September, a fresh probe was launched after the original inquiry conducted by a special investigation team was found to have “serious lapses,” leading to the suspension of three senior police officers and pending action against another.
On November 15, Gopal Swaroop Chaturvedi, senior advocate, for the State, submitted in the High Court that the DNA test reports of the 277 suspects had been received from the CFSL laboratory, Hyderabad. However, they had been referred back for re-testing, the government informed a Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agarwal.
The government had told the court that there were CCTV cameras installed on the campus and DNA samples of all the persons who had been seen moving in the school at the said time of the death were collected.
Mr. Chaturvedi, on November 15, prayed before the court for more time to place on record the progress in the investigation, following which the court adjourned the matter to December 2.
On that date, the court would also take up the deceased girl’s mother’s writ petition seeking a CBI probe.
Probe under HC supervision
The new probe in the case is being conducted under the supervision of the High Court which, in September, also directed the police to provide adequate security to the girl’s family as well as the petitioner.
The accused in the case had been booked for murder, attempt to rape and under Sections 7, 8 and 18 of the POCSO Act on the complaint of the girl’s father.
The High Court, on September 16, after summoning the DGP in person, noted that the top cop of the State, Mukul Goel, had realised that there were “serious lapses in the investigation of the case and thereby three officers have been placed under suspension.”
A Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Anil Kumar Ojha had then said a new SIT had been constituted to hold a fresh investigation because the probe till date “cannot be trusted.”
“It would be after taking note of the allegations in the FIR and the lapses committed by the earlier investigating team. They would collect all the evidence relevant to the case. The investigation would be under the supervision of this court,” the Bench had said
Investigating officer (IO) Pahup Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police Om Prakash and Deputy Superintendent of Police Priyank Jain were suspended for lapses and negligence in the investigation.
DGP’s submission
The DGP had submitted before the court that action had been taken against “those police officers who defaulted in conducting the investigation in a fair and proper manner.”
In the vaginal slide taken from the victim, human semen was found apart from sperm on the underwear of the deceased girl, the court had said quoting the suspension order of the IO.
Despite receipt of the report from FSL, Agra, the IO did not send for DNA test within 45 days the samples from the persons named in the FIR or those who were suspected. After this period, the subsequent DNA remained of no use, said the court. The victim’s autopsy report had shown that her hymen was torn and clotted blood was present in the vagina, indicating that she was prima facie raped, but the IO did not take such findings seriously and did not send her school uniform for forensic investigation, the DGP informed the court.
The IO was also penalized for recording the statement of accused principal Sushma Sagar only after a period of three months after the FIR was lodged on September 17, 2019.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in December 2019, while ordering a SIT probe, instructed officials to send a reminder to the Centre recommending that the case be taken up by the CBI. The State government had recommended a CBI probe on September 27, 2019.
