No headway in Murthal ‘rape’ probe, says SIT

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23

The Special Investigating Team probing the Murthal “rapes” today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the woman whose daughter was allegedly dragged to the fields continued to remain in the realm of obscurity.

Appearing before the Bench of Justice S.S. Saron and Justice Shekher Kumar Dhawan, Haryana Additional Advocate General Lokesh Singhal said the women in her recorded interview had claimed the family was coming from Naina Devi at the time of the incident.

The police could track down two families who were travelling on the highway after visiting Naina Devi. One did not have a daughter. In the case of the other, the vehicle was burnt and injuries sustained, but rape was not reported.

He also placed a status report in a sealed cover, indicating that the investigations had hit a dead end. Though the contents were not made public, amicus curiae Anupam Gupta appeared dissatisfied and declared that he would travel down to Delhi to meet a journalist who had interviewed the victim’s mother after the Tribune reports brought to fore the assault on women in the fields of Murthal.

Gupta said the tapes were true and so was her story. “The tape breaks you,” he said.