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Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 19
Virtually putting an end to speculation regarding the Murthal incident, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today minced no words to say it was “evident that rape has been committed”.
A Division Bench of Justices SS Saron and Darshan Singh, hearing the suo motu case based on The Tribune reports, said allegations of rape were not without basis. Rape had taken place and the culprits were required to be brought to book.
The assertion came just before advocate Sumeet Goel, on CBI’s behalf, told the Bench that it was bound by the court orders on the question of probe, indicating that it was not averse to looking into the matter.
Dictating the orders in the open court, the Bench emphasised that the special investigation team (SIT) set up to look into the case would make every effort to track down those involved in rape and kidnapping.
Referring to witnesses Bobby Joshi and Raj Kumar, the Bench observed they had said that women were dragged out and taken to the fields. Also, women’s undergarments with human semen had been found strewn in Murthal fields, making it evident that rape had occurred.
At the very onset, the Bench said its own conclusion regarding Haryana Government’s stand was that rape had been committed, but the SIT was unable to trace the culprits and the victims. Responding to the observation, Haryana Additional Advocate General Pawan Girdhar insisted that the investigation was on, but there was no victim or witness. At this stage, they were not ruling out the possibility of rape, but molestation had definitely taken place.
The Bench said going by the statements of the two witnesses and the discovery of human semen on the clothes, it could not be said rape had not been committed. Witness Raj Kumar had told the police that he was travelling in his car on the Delhi-Kurukshetra stretch on February 22 last year when at about 2.30 am, he saw 10-15 boys burning cars.
He also saw three-four boys dragging a girl from her hair and one arm to nearby fields near Sukhdev Dhaba, even as she screamed for help. Raj Kumar also said he could take the cops to the crime spot.
After his statement was read out by amicus curiae Anupam Gupta, the Bench said Raj Kumar was not making assumptions. The observation came in response to SIT incharge Mamta Singh’s claim of deviation in his statements. The next date of hearing is February 28.
The Haryana Jats, demanding OBC status for reservation in jobs, held a series of protests in February 2016, "paralysing" the state for 10 days. The period saw a complete breakdown in law and order. Vehicles on national highways were torched. Women commuters were dragged out of their vehicles near Murthal and violated.
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