Notice to CBI over reinvestigation in Gudiya rape case

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, January 5

The Himachal High Court today issued notice to the CBI on a petition seeking re-investigation of the Gudiya murder and rape case.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice L Narayana Swami and Justice Anoop Chitkara further directed the CBI to file its response within six weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on March 2.

The court passed this order on a petition filed by the mother of the victim alleging therein that the CBI had not investigated the case properly and not placed the true facts of the case before the court.

Earlier also, the court had taken a cognizance of this outrageous incident and directed the CBI to investigate the case. In November 2018, the CBI had filed its report before the court informing it that it had already filed chargesheet against the accused before the CBI court on July 27, 2019, and the case was at the stage of recording the statements of witnesses.

After this, the court had disposed of the petition on November 13, 2018

In the first week of July 2017, a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Kotkhai was allegedly raped and brutally murdered. The incident shook the state. It was on July 12, 2017, that the High Court took suo motu cognizance of the matter on the news reports published in the media and had on July 19, 2017, directed the CBI to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a Superintendent of Police, to investigate the case.