New Delhi: Delhi Police on Monday arrested a senior officer (now suspended) for allegedly raping a deceased friend’s minor daughter for several months.
Accused Premoday Khakha was earlier suspended from his post with immediate effect and disciplinary proceedings against him are being ‘contemplated’, the Delhi government said on Monday.
Khakha was a senior officer in Delhi’s Women and Child Development department.
Meanwhile, Khakha’s wife – who is accused of giving the young girl medication to terminate a pregnancy – was also taken into custody
Both have been charged under the POCSO Act and are being questioned by the Delhi Police.
The minor girl had lost her father in 2020, after which the accused brought her to his home. He allegedly raped her multiple times between 2020 and 2021. When the minor became pregnant, the accused purportedly confided in his wife and got her pregnancy terminated at home.
The minor girl is currently undergoing treatment.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered his suspension and sought a report on the issue.
“I have directed the chief secretary to suspend him till the investigation is underway and have also sought a report on this by 5 pm today,” CM Kejriwal said.
Delhi Minister Atishi, reacting to the incident, said, It’s a shocking incident as this accused was an officer in the Women and Child department. It’s worrying as he’s being charged with rape against a minor girl. I hope that the Delhi police will do the proceedings fast…As soon as Delhi CM (Arvind Kejriwal) got to know about the incident he (Arvind Kejriwal) gave the orders to the concerned officer to suspend the accused officer.”
Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal has earlier raised concerns about the delay in the arrest of the officer.
“A government officer who was sitting on the post of Deputy Director in the Women and Child Development Department for so long, has been accused of raping a 16-year-old minor girl and when she got pregnant, he and his wife tried to abort the pregnancy. We have issued notice to Delhi Police, why is he not arrested yet, we are also issuing a notice to Delhi govt because we want to know what are the complaints against him and what actions have been taken against him”, Maliwal said.