Rape-accused Delhi govt officer, wife tried to flee before arrest

The Delhi government officer accused of repeatedly raping and impregnating a minor girl was caught on CCTV trying to flee along with his wife, moments before the couple was arrested, sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said Premoday Khakha and his wife Seema Rani were going to meet a lawyer and planning to seek anticipatory bail from a court before they were arrested from near their house on Monday.

Shortly before he was arrested in the case which was registered on August 13, Khakha was suspended from his post as deputy director in Women and Child Development (WCD) Department following a direction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The duo are residents of Shakti Enclave in Burari area, police said, adding that the victim was staying at the residence of the accused, a family friend whom she calls 'mama', after her father passed away on October 1, 2020.

The accused, an ex-cadre officer, had allegedly raped the girl several times between November 2020 and January 2021. His wife has also been charged with giving the girl medicine to terminate her pregnancy, they said.

Meanwhile, DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday ended her dharna at St Stephen's Hospital here 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.

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.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said Rani was produced before a court on Monday and sent to judicial custody, while Khakha will be produced in the court on Tuesday.