Mumbai: Minor raped in 2012, charge doesn’t figure in FIR

A minor was kidnapped in December 2012 in the Shivaji Nagar area and brutally raped by her abductor.

She was found roaming the streets the next day, bleeding and severely injured. A medical report from JJ Hospital confirmed the girl had been raped, but the police decided not to add the offence in the FIR. Three years on, her abductor is yet to be identified.

Hearing a plea filed by the girl’s grandmother on Thursday, the Bombay high court expressed shock at the police inaction and directed them to immediately add charges of rape, under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code.

A bench of justice Ranjit More and justice Rajesh Ketkar also directed the state to file a report detailing the provisions of the Manodhairya scheme, launched by the Maharashtra government in 2013 to provide financial, medical and legal aid, and rehabilitation to victims of rape and child abuse.

The girl’s grandmother told the court that three years after the incident, the police were yet to make arrests.

She said despite her constantly pursuing them, the police refused to add the offence of rape in the FIR, even though their own investigation had confirmed that the child had been raped.

The girl lives with her grandmother, as her parents abandoned her after the incident. As the FIR did not record rape, the girl has got none of the government aid that rape victims are entitled to.

According to the girl’s grandmother, medical expenses cost her Rs3 lakh — the girl had to undergo two reconstructive surgeries.

She said without aid from the state, she and her grandchild are forced to live off the little money she makes working as a domestic help.

When quizzed by the court, the state’s counsel confirmed the police investigations had also said the girl had been raped.

“We are shocked,” the bench said. “What is the reason for such inaction? Add the offence of rape to the FIR immediately and tell us which government schemes can help the victim.” The HC has given the state two weeks to submit a plan.