Three police officers in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district were suspended on Thursday for negligence in handling the alleged gangrape of a 13-year-old girl and the death of her father, Deputy Inspector General Preetinder Singh said. A fourth police officer, Sub-Inspector Devendra Yadav, whose sons are accused in the case, was suspended for being absent from duty, ThePrint reported.
Sajeti police station beat in-charge Ram Shiromani and constable Adesh Kumar were suspended for negligence in the alleged rape case. Ghatampur police post in-charge Abdul Kalam was suspended for negligence in the accident in which the father of the girl died. They were found guilty after a preliminary inquiry, according to The Hindu.
Kannauj Superintendent of Police Prashant Verma told ThePrint that Yadav was sent to Jalaun district for duty. However, he did not report back to Kannauj or inform officials about his absence.
Yadav was booked for the murder of the girl’s father. He was run over by a truck on Wednesday, outside the hospital where the girl had gone for a medical check-up. The family members of the deceased alleged that Yadav had plotted to kill him and made it look like a road accident, PTI reported.
The Kanpur deputy inspector general said that a departmental inquiry has been launched against the suspended police personnel. Singh said that Superintendent of Police (Rural) Brajesh Srivastava has been asked to conduct the inquiry and submit the findings to him.
The police have arrested Dipu Yadav, the second accused in the case, The Hindu reported. They had earlier arrested Golu Yadav, who is the key accused. Saurabh Yadav, the one who allegedly threatened the girl’s family, is yet to be taken into custody.
Meanwhile the relatives of the girl and some residents staged a protest on the Kanpur-Sagar highway. The complainant’s grandfather alleged that the police were complicit in his son’s killing.
The incident took place on Monday, when the girl was returning home from the fields in the evening, according to the newspaper. Dipu Yadav and Golu Yadav grabbed her and took her to a secluded place, where they took turns to rape her. The accused also threatened to kill the girl.
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