The Jharkhand High Court has intervened in the Hazaribag rape and murder case, demanding answers from state officials and police regarding the investigation into the tragic death of a 12-year-old girl and the subsequent protests for justice.
The Jharkhand High Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of the alleged rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Hazaribag district.
The court also served notices to the state home secretary, director, general of police and Hazaribagh superintendent of police to respond in the matter.
The court of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary took cognisance of a newspaper report of March 29 about the rape and brutal murder of the victim.
Advocate Hemant Kumar Shikarwar took up the matter in court and informed the bench that no arrest has been made by the police as yet. He said that the mother of the victim, who is a daily wager in a brick kiln, is being threatened to tamper with evidence in the case.
The high court, considering the sensitivity of the issue, particularly the commission of rape on a female child and causing injury to her body parts, particularly her private parts and her tongue, took serious note of the matter.
The court directed the Hazaribagh SP to appear online, upon which SP Anjani Anjan appeared through virtual mode.
Anjan informed that no arrest has been made and an investigation is being conducted.
The court directed the SP to specifically explain why, even after five days of lodging of the FIR, the culprit has not been arrested.
According to police, the girl had gone with her mother to watch the 'Mangla' procession, a rally taken out as part of Ram Navami rituals, at her native village under Bishnugarh police station limits on the night of March 24.
Her family alleged in the FIR that she was abducted, and her body was found on March 25 at a field in the village.
Jharkhand DGP Tadasha Mishra had on Sunday said a three-member SIT has been constituted for a swift probe into the case.
The SIT is mandated to submit a progress report, along with details regarding the action taken thus far, within a week.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP staged a 12-hour bandh in Hazaribag to protest against the incident.
There was no untoward incident reported from anywhere in the district, officials said.
The bandh evoked a mixed response. Shops and other retail outlets remained closed in the district, largely due to the weekly closure of wholesalers, while public transport services operated normally as educational institutions and commercial establishments, including banks, remained open.
Hazaribag MP Manish Jaiswal said the bandh was successful, as traders voluntarily shut their shops for the cause.
BJP state president Aditya Sahu said it would press for a Jharkhand bandh on April 3, if the administration failed to nab the culprits in the next two days.
Members of the Jharkhand BJP women's wing also staged a demonstration in Ranchi, seeking justice for the girl.
"Law and order has deteriorated in the state and women's safety is at stake," general secretary of the wing, Seema Singh, alleged.
Jharkhand Finance minister Radhakrishna Kishore visited the victim's family in Hazaribag.
The minister said that a compensation of Rs 1 lakh is being given to the family for now. It would be increased after a discussion with the chief minister.
Kishore said that he directed the Deputy Commissioner of Hazaribag to rehabilitate the family and linked the members with government welfare schemes.
In Jamshedpur, saffron party leaders demonstrated in front of the East Singhbhum district collectorate.
A delegation of the BJP Jamshedpur Mahanagar Mahila Morcha also submitted a memorandum addressed to the Jharkhand Governor, demanding the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
Congress leaders Amba Prasad and Yogendra Sao, along with party supporters, also held a protest demonstration at the Zila Parishad Chowk in Hazaribag.
Hazaribag Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Shambhu Nath Agarwal said that though there was a weekly closure of shops and wholesalers in the district on Monday, several traders voluntarily downed shutters.
"It is a heinous crime, and we had appealed to the shopkeepers to express solidarity with the bandh," said Agarwal.