(Trigger warning: Mentions of child sexual abuse. Reader discretion advised.)
The Delhi Police on Monday, 21 August arrested a 50-year-old senior government official who has been accused of raping his deceased friend's 17-year-old daughter, officials said.
The official, working with Delhi government's Department of Women and Child Development, and his wife, have been booked for allegedly raping the minor girl for several months between 2020-2021.
“The accused deputy director and his wife are being interrogated. Any other witnesses or accused will be made a part of the investigation”, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday, 21 August, ordered the suspension of the official.
An FIR under sections 376(2)(f) (being a guardian, commits rape on woman), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 323 (causing hurt), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman's consent), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (PC) and sections 6/21 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has been lodged against the accused officer and his wife. The case was filed in the Burari police station on 13 August.