Amid demands by the Opposition for Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to resign in the aftermath of the 4 July Kotkhai gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, Singh said on Tuesday, as per an ANI report:
I have four daughters, I can understand the pain of victim’s parents.
Singh went on to say:
I personally wrote a letter to the PM to hand over the case to the CBI. We want a fair probe into the case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is all set to establish a temporary office in Shimla or Theog town to investigate the 4 July incident.
The CBI is also expected to call upon the prime suspects in the coming days, as per a report by the Indian Express. The central agency will be setting up the Special Investigation Team office by this week, and will furnish a status report by 2 August.
Following protests over the alleged “custodial killing” of a Nepalese labourer held in connection with the case, sources claimed that Delhi-based forensic experts would be roped in to examine his body.
The body of 29-year-old Suraj Singh is yet to be handed over to his family, and has been kept at the Indira Gandhi Medical college’s mortuary, as per the CBI’s instructions.
The CBI filed two First Information Reports — one in the gangrape and murder case and the other in the custodial death of Suraj Singh, after the cases were transferred to them from the state police.
Shimla and Kotkhai have witnessed large-scale protests in the aftermath of both the gangrape and the “custodial killing”, demanding a fair investigation into the incidents. Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh government had submitted a report related to the case, to Governor Acharya Devvrat, said a report by the Indian Express.
Protests continued near the state Secretariat in Shimla on Monday.
(With inputs from The Indian Express, Hindustan Times)
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