Delhi official who raped, impregnated minor sent to custody

A court in New Delhi on Tuesday sent to one-day judicial custody suspended Delhi government officer Premoday Khakha who allegedly raped a minor several times and impregnated her.

His wife Seema Rani, who is accused of giving the girl medicine to terminate her pregnancy, was also sent to judicial custody for a day.

Both were produced separately before the duty metropolitan magistrate, Katyayini Sharma Kandwal.

After Khakha's medical examination, including a potency test, the duo was taken to jail, officials said.

A potency test is used to prove if an individual is physically capable of committing sexual assault.

The accused, an ex-cadre officer, had allegedly raped the girl several times between November 2020 and January 2021.

His wife allegedly gave the girl medicine to terminate her pregnancy. The couple has two kids.

She was staying at the residence of the accused, a family friend, after her father passed away on October 1, 2020, police had said.

The couple was arrested on Monday after the victim recorded her statement before a magistrate at a hospital.

According to sources, the investigation so far has revealed that the first incident of rape took place on October 31, 2020.

The accused gave her water, following which she fell unconscious and was allegedly sexually assaulted by him.

During the initial round of questioning, he claimed that the allegations are totally false.

He said the victim's family visited his house multiple times, which is being verified, sources said, adding that the girl returned home with her mother in 2021 when she came to meet her.

According to police, when the victim informed Rani about the incident, she put the blame on her.

The victim also alleged that Rani was strict with her and would beat her if she scored low marks in school exams.

The girl never told her mother about her ordeal thinking that she too would not believe her, police said.

A team of police officers will visit the church, where the victim met the accused, as part of the probe, if required, they said.

The couple was caught on CCTV cameras trying to flee, moments before being arrested from near their house. Sources said they were going to meet a lawyer to seek anticipatory bail from a court.

A case has been registered under provisions of the POCSO Act and Indian Penal Code sections 376(2)(f) (being a relative, guardian or teacher of, or a person in a position of trust or authority towards the woman, commits rape on such woman) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman), police said.

Indian Penal Code sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman's consent) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) have also been invoked in the case, police said.

Meanwhile, DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday ended her dharna at St Stephen's Hospital in New Delhi where she had gone to meet the minor girl.

Maliwal had sat on the dharna Monday morning, claiming that she was prevented from meeting the girl.

She left the hospital Tuesday afternoon and could not meet the victim.

The DCW chief has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to direct the Delhi Police to allow her meeting with the minor girl.

She also urged the home minister to order an inquiry into the delay in arresting the accused and to shift the girl to AIIMS for better treatment.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday ordered the chief secretary to suspend the accused officer.

According to the order, during the suspension period, the officer is not permitted to leave the department headquarters without obtaining prior permission.

Meanwhile, a police official said the mother of the girl did not want to meet anyone since the victim is still under observation at the hospital.