Public outcry, CBI to probe Shimla rape-murder

Pratibha Chauhan

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Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 14

Bowing to public pressure over the alleged shoddy police probe and attempts to shield the “real culprits”, the Himachal Pradesh Government today handed over the rape and murder case of a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Kotkhai in Shimla to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

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The decision came hours after an irate mob gathered near the Theog police station, about 30 km from here, and damaged government vehicles. 

Calling for a CBI probe amid anti-police sloganeering and hurling of stones, the protesters threatened to set the police station afire if their demand was not met. Shimla Superintendent of Police DW Negi, too, was manhandled. 

Even as the public fury kept mounting and National Highway-22 remained blocked, the decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken only after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh returned from Kullu in the afternoon. “Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case and to remove all doubts, if any, the government has decided to refer the matter to the CBI,” he said. 

The protesters, however, refused to clear the blockade without proof of the official communication to the central probe agency. The was brought under control only after the Theog Sub-Divisional Magistrate produced a copy of the order.

Apart from Theog, people poured onto the streets in Shimla, Kotkhai and Jubbal. There was also a scramble among politicians to hog the limelight and pledge support to the family. 

While the girl’s uncle stood with the protesters in Theog, the victim’s parents left for Haridwar to perform the minor’s last rites.

On July 4, the Class X student was reportedly offered a lift in a car by one of the accused on her way home from school. Her body later was recovered from a forest area.

A Special Investigation Team had yesterday claimed the case had been cracked with the arrest of six youths. The people, however, refused to buy the police theory. 

Social media went abuzz with allegations of attempts to shield some well-connected persons and also that the crime took place in a house, and not in the forest area as claimed. Doubts were also raised on the alleged involvement of two Nepalese labourers, who  did not flee after committing the crime.

Accused face mob fury

Five of the six accused in the case, who were taken to Shimla’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for a check-up, had to face mob fury. People from all walks of life, including women, gathered outside the hospital. Despite the large police presence, the men in khaki had a tough time trying to save the accused from being beaten up. 

Issue being politicised: virbhadra 

The mayhem at Theog and the destruction of public property were politically motivated. Instead of sympathising with the victim’s family, some people are giving a political colour to the incident… The police convoy in which the accused were being brought to Shimla was ambushed by an organised group. — Virbhadra Singh, HP CM