Caretaker held for Pingla Ghar rape

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 26

Rakesh Kumar, a caretaker of Pingla Ghar here, has been found guilty of raping a 37-year-old mentally-challenged inmate as per the investigation instituted by Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.

The police had filed a case against an unidentified person for raping the inmate and carried out a DNA test after she delivered a baby.

The police got the report of the test a few days ago which showed that the DNA of the baby matched with the caretaker’s.

Bhullar said, “The DNA report arrived a few days ago and caretaker Rakesh Kumar has been arrested under Section 376 of the IPC. He is presently in police custody. The case is being probed. It is being checked how he got access to the woman.”

Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said, “The due process of the prosecution of the culprit is being undertaken. The action was initiated on our preliminary report and recommendation for a magisterial inquiry. We also expect due process to be followed and the case to be taken to its logical end in court. The matter is now with the police.”

A report by the DC on September 14 last year, prepared by a six-member inquiry committee, claimed that the woman had been raped, left pregnant, and then married off to a man in the same shelter home. It also highlighted the lack of cooperation in the investigation by the Pingla Ghar authorities.

The man she got married to told the inquiry committee members that he was “approached by someone who asked whether he would like to get married and he said yes”. The woman is currently at Nari Niketan, Amritsar.