Saharanpur (UP), Nov 5 A fast-track court here convicted a former station house officer (SHO) and another policeman for raping a woman in Deoband 11 years ago when she went to the police station over her husband’s arrest.
The court convicted former SHO Braj Mohan Yadav and sub-inspector Vedpal Singh on Wednesday. They were arrested immediately after the verdict.
The court fixed November 6 for hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence.
The victim’s counsel, Rajiv Tomar, told PTI that the woman had gone to Deoband Police Station on August 6, 2015, to enquire about her husband following his arrest. Two female relatives accompanied her.
She alleged that then sub-inspector Pankaj Dhama took her to the police station quarters on the pretext of introducing her to the SHO. Yadav, Singh, Dhama and another constable were there.
The woman alleged that the four policemen gang-raped her and assaulted her two relatives when they tried to intervene.
When the police took no action on her complaint, she approached the then senior superintendent of police, but got no relief from the officer either.
She approached the Allahabad High Court, secured an FIR order, and subsequently, a probe by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) into her allegations.
The CB-CID filed a final report in the case. The victim challenged it through a protest petition, following which the court took cognisance of offences under IPC sections 376D (gangrape) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Tomar said the initial allegations named four policemen. However, the trial eventually proceeded against Yadav and Singh.
Dhama submitted medical documents claiming mental illness, while proceedings against the fourth accused constable could not progress.
(PTI News)
