4-yr-old's rape: Gurdaspur police still groping in dark

Ravi Dhaliwal

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Gurdaspur, April 7

A week after a 4-year-old school girl was allegedly raped, the crime is turning out to be a ‘whodunnit’ for cops even as voices to release a leading educationist Sawinder Singh Gill are getting shriller.

The police had arrested Gill on the pretext that “the crime occurred at the premises owned by him.” Intriguingly, at the same time, the police are claiming they have not arrived at any conclusion pertaining to the exact location. Consequently, it questions cops’ decision to take him in custody.

Residents have now started questioning the efficacy of the cops. The common refrain is: “If tomorrow it is proved that the girl was not raped at the school, will they release Gill?”

Several social organisations have urged the police to release the accused but the police do not seem to be listening. The Federation of Private Schools of Punjab has given a call to block the Amritsar-Gurdaspur National Highway from April 11 if the accused is not released by then.

Federation’s spokesperson Mohit Majahan said all private educational institutes in the state will remain closed from April 11 in protest against the “unjust treatment meted out to Gill.”

The Amritsar-Gurdaspur National Highway has become the proverbial Achilles’ heel for the police. Tourists and VIPs coming from Delhi by air and proceeding to J&K take this route. They arrive at Amritsar airport and then take the Amritsar-Batala-Gurdaspur-Dinanagar-Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar Road to reach their respective destinations. Moreover, a substantial part of the traffic headed for Amritsar airport from various cities of Punjab, too, uses this road. A day after the crime, the victim’s kin blocked this stretch for nearly 10 hours throwing traffic out of gear. The kin were demanding the arrest of Gill “by virtue of him being the chairman of the school.” When he learnt about this development, Gill walked up to the protesting family and tried to convince them of his non-involvement. Half an hour later, when he failed to so, he walked straight to the Sadar police and surrendered. His problems began the moment he did this. Sources reveal he had been made to believe by the cops that his “token presence” at the police station was required to calm down the victim’s kin. An officer claimed that the real motive of asking Gill to surrender was to ensure the opening of the NH, which, by then, had become jammed for several kilometres.

Top police officers claim that the release of the accused is beyond their jurisdiction as he has been remanded in judicial custody till April 18. “It is for the judiciary to decide. On our part, our hands are tied to our backs,” an officer said.

All CCTV footages were checked but the police found absolutely no proof that the girl was actually raped in the school. The cops are now trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Gill’s flight to freedom hinged on a CCTV that was installed in the very class, where the girl was said to be assaulted. However, the cops found that this particular CCTV had been damaged because of some recent construction activity.

Police, even after a week, have been left clutching at a straw. The MLR proves that the girl was indeed sexually assaulted. But when, where and by whom remains the question which is haunting the police.

SSP Harjit Singh said the police were working on the case and would solve it soon. “I have constituted a SIT and it will submit its report soon,” he said. An officer claimed they were hoping to achieve a breakthrough before the schools staged a protest on April 11. “The blocking of the NH is indeed a sensitive issue. We have to ensure it is not jammed. If at all it is blocked again, we will have a tough time answering our seniors,” he said.

Even on April 2, when the highway was blocked, scores of tourists travelling in J&K SRTC buses to J&K were left high and dry. Nearly 5-6 km long jams were seen throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the cops have picked up two persons from the area, where the girl’s house is located. However, they are maintaining a stoic silence on this development.

Interestingly, the crime happened on the day when SSP Nanak Singh was shifted to Patiala, while his successor Harjit Singh was yet to join. A vacuum at the top level also contributed to the NH getting blocked. It was during this time that the headless police failed to impress upon the kin the futility of holding such a protest on a NH.

In a nutshell

A 4-year-old school girl was allegedly raped at a school in Gurdaspur a week ago and a leading educationist Sawinder Singh Gill was taken in custody on the pretext that “the crime occurred at the premises owned by him”. Intriguingly, at the same time, the police are claiming they have not arrived at any conclusion pertaining to the exact location as to where the crime took place.