“Hathras is not only in UP but also in Jharkhand": Jharkhand HC constitutes SIT to probe death of 15-year-old girl from 100% burn injuries

The gruesome death of a 15-year-old girl in Jharkhand and the casual manner in which police investigation was handled for months has prompted the Jharkhand High Court to draw parallels to the Hathras gang rape case, which has recently occupied the national limelight..Finding that the case before him merited the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), Justice Ananda Sen remarked today,."'Hathras' is not only in the State of Uttar Pradesh, but also is in the State of Jharkhand. A shocking incident has been brought to the notice of this court which prompted this Court to make the aforesaid comments."Jharkhand High Court.The post mortem report showed that the girl had died after suffering 100% burn injuries..In the FIR lodged over the case, the girl's father was accused of having doused her in kerosene and setting her on fire in March this year. The informant had visited the victim's house and fought with her family members on the day of the victim's death..However, the High Court was told by one Shankar Paswan that the police are not investigating the case properly. Rather, the accused persons named in the FIR were still roaming free, emboldened by police inaction. .No action had been taken against the accused by the police despite the passage of four months, it was submitted. Further, the accused were also pressurising the informant not to pursue the case. .The police countered that it was in the process of investigating whether the case is one of honour killing, adding that proper steps were being taken to complete the probe..The Judge, however, disagreed, noting that,"The offence is very heinous in nature. I have gone through the case diary, which suggests as to how the investigation proceeded, that too in a very casual manner.".Apart from noting days' worth of gaps in the course of the investigations, the Court also criticized the delay in sending samples for forensic examination. The Court's order notes, ."It is worthwhile to mention here that Doctor opined that the vaginal swab should be sent to FSL, Ranchi for examination. The next date of activity of the Investigating Officer is 5th May 2020, which is more than 14 days. On that day he obtains permission from the court to send the swab to the FSL. On next day, i.e. 6th May 2020, the I.O. obtains a letter from the hospital to send the swab to the laboratory. Surprisingly rather shockingly the swab was sent to the laboratory only on 20th May 2020 i.e. after 14 days. In the entire case diary there is no explanation about the delay caused. This is how an investigation is going on of a most heinous crime.".On further perusal of the case diary, the Court also remarked,"Surprisingly enough I don’t find anything to suggest that the police have ever made an attempt to arrest the named accused persons.".The Court went on to emphasise that regardless of whether the victim's death was due to honour killing or otherwise, it needs an immediate and proper investigation to bring to light the correct fact and to book the real accused persons..Instead, the police authorities in this case were found to have poorly conducted probe. As noted in the order, ."The way the investigation proceeded is absolutely unsatisfactory. No seriousness is shown by the Investigating Officer nor even by the supervising authority in this case. The urgency is absolutely lacking. This court cannot keep its eyes shut and ignore this type of lackluster and shoddy investigation. Seriousness and urgency ought to have been shown by the investigating authorities. They have miserably failed as there is no substantial progress in the investigation even after lapse of six months.".In view of the same, the judge has ordered the constitution of an SIT, stating further that responsible and senior officers must be appointed to this investigating team. .The Director-General of Police was directed to monitor the probe and ensure its completion at the earliest. The Court added, "... it will be open to the SIT to immediately arrest the accused persons and it will be the duty of the SIT to see that none of the witnesses are tampered by anyone.".Advocate Arwind Kumar appeared for the petitioner. Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan appeared for the State. .Read the Order: