(Trigger Warning: Descriptions of rape and sexual assault. Reader discretion advised.)
A new First Information Report (FIR) has been filed by the Delhi Police in connection with the alleged rape of a 17-year-old minor girl by a Women and Child Development (WCD) official, after she told the investigating officers that she was also raped by five youths before she moved into the former's home.
This comes nearly a month after the 51-year-old WCD official was arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly raping and impregnating the minor, a deceased friend's daughter, when she was in his care between 2020 and 2021. His wife was also arrested for allegedly giving the minor an abortion pill. The couple were booked under sections of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
"While investigating the rape of the minor by the WCD official, we recorded the survivor's statement under Section 161 of CrPC where she claimed she was raped by five youths, staying in her locality four years back. She also mentioned their names in her statement," a senior police officer told The Quint.
The new FIR has been filed in Northeast Delhi's New Usampur area, under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, on Wednesday, 13 September.
No arrests have been made so far, Northeast Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Joy Tirkey confirmed.
'Minor Raped Several Times Between 2018-2020'
The incident of alleged rape by the WCD official came to light earlier in August, when the girl began to experience "bouts of anxiety" which prompted her mother to take her to the hospital, the Burari Police had earlier said.
A senior police official told The Quint that once the condition of the survivor turned stable post her admission in the hospital, a fresh statement of her was recorded for investigating the case against the WCD official.
"During this, she once again revealed that she was raped by five youths separately near her house between 2018-2020, when she was living with her parents," the police official said.
“On Wednesday, we had sent a counsellor, along with our investigating officer, to her place to record her statement and we lodged an FIR under the POCSO Act. We are probing the case" Tirkey said.
Investigation in Rape Case Against WCD Official
Weeks after claiming in court that he had undergone a vasectomy 18 years ago, the WCD official refused to submit a sample for semen analysis, The Indian Express reported.
The Delhi Police, however said that the official's potency test report was "different from what the accused had claimed."
A potency test is a medical examination that allows the authorities to prove potency, which basically means that the accused is physically capable of committing sexual assault.
Speaking to The Quint, a senior police officer said, "Even without conducting this test, the charges of rape stay valid. Sexual intercourse alone does not determine a rape case. Nothing changes with the tests as the girl has named the official."
The 51-year-old official and his wife are in judicial custody and further investigations are underway, police told The Quint.
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