By IANS,
Nagpur : A day’s delay in filing a chargesheet enabled an alleged rapist of a girl to get bail from a Maharashtra court, prompting the state government Tuesday to suspend from service a policeman for lapses.
NGO Prahar exposed the police lethargy in the five-month-old case in Chandrapur district Monday and said that nothing much had changed despite the nationwide protests following the recent gangrape incident in Delhi.
Taking serious note of the lapse, the state government has suspended R.G. Solapure, investigating officer and assistant police inspector of Durgapur Police Station, an official said here.
“Even though it is a delay of just one day, the accused got the benefit of doubt and secured bail. Moreover, as per prima facie information, the investigating officer did not seek additional time from the court for filing the chargesheet,” Superintendent of Police Rajiv Jain told IANS.
Jain said an Indian Police Service officer Prashant Holkar will inquire into the incident.
The incident took place Sep 21, 2012, when 54-year-old Sukhdeo Sao allegedly raped a four-year-old girl belonging to a minority community in his neighbourhood in Kitali village.
The incident created an outcry following which Sao was nabbed and presented before a magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody.
Solapure allegedly failed to file the chargesheet within the stipulated 90 days and walked away on bail last Dec 21.
“We regularly inquired about the progress in the matter, but Solapure did not reply. There were other witnesses in the case, but Solapure failed to summon them in court on time. He did not even visit our home for the probe and recorded our statement a few days after the incident,” the victim’s mother told mediapersons.
Prahar NGO’s Chandrapur president Pradeep Deshmukh hit out at police lapses which delayed justice to the minor girl.
“This is a glaring example of negligence by the Durgapur police. We have demanded suspension of both Solapure and another official D.W. Bhagat,” Deshmukh told media-persons.
Prahar has sought the case to be transferred to a fast-track court and Rs.2 lakh compensation to the victim.