A fast track court awarded life imprisonment to all the four accused for allegedly raping a 19-year-old UPSC aspirant when she was returning home from a coaching institute on 31 October in Bhopal.
The student was tied up and gang-raped for three hours in a busy part of the city. When the local police was approached, they refused to register an FIR for more than 11 hours. The delay in taking any cognisance of the case caused public outrage, followed by suspension of a couple of police officers.
The police was trying to keep the matter hushed as the crime took place when the police was busy with preparations for the Madhya Pradesh foundation day ceremony.
The survivor had accused the police of negligence and blatant non cooperation.
“We were going from one police station to another but no one cooperated except a Habibganj Inspector,” she had told ANI.
In another instance of absolute carelessness pertaining to this case, a report prepared by doctors of the Sultana Lady Hospital had erroneously referred the 19-year-old as an "accused" instead of victim and had also mistakenly said that the sexual act was committed “with her consent and will.”
The Madhya Pradesh administration had then served show cause notices to the two women doctors who had made that error.
Superintendent of Police, Bhopal Railway Division, Ruchi Vardhan Mishra had said that the errors were “insignificant” as these were made in column for recording the details of the incident. She also stated that the part regarding medical observation is significant in the doctors’ examination report.
(With inputs from ANI and NDTV.)
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