Child panel chief booked for lapse in minor’s rape case in Palwal

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Palwal, September 29

Two persons, including the Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Palwal, have been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act for negligence in handling the rape case of a 16-year-old girl.

The girl had given birth to a baby on June 26. According to the report submitted to the Deputy Commissioner by the police, provisions of the JJ Act that were violated included breach of the victim’s privacy, failure to provide proper custody of the child during treatment, no pre-release planning of the victim after hospitalisation and exposing the identity of the victim in the media after a video of the victim begging for help went viral on the social media soon after she was discharged from the hospital on June 29.

The two accused have been identified as CWC Chairperson Darshana Bhardwaj and Prem Kumar Khullar, manager of an orphanage at Bahrola village in the district.

The victim, who was six-month pregnant after a rape incident, was produced before the CWC on March 26. She had been kept at the Bahrola orphanage till she delivered a baby on June 26 under the care of the CWC. It is revealed that while the officials concerned wanted to shift the girl to a centre in Faridabad, the girl refused, claiming threat to her life. Her opposition was recorded on a video, which went viral on the social media.

A police official said a probe concluded negligence on the part of the CWC Chairperson and the orphanage manager. No arrest has been made so far, he said.

Bhardwaj said she was not aware of the case registered against her. “I can’t speak on the issue till I look at the FIR or the charges levelled against me,” she added.