New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant default bail to the wife of suspended Delhi government official Premoday Khakha in a case of alleged sexual assault of a minor girl.

Mr Khakha, who served as Deputy Director in the Women and Child Development Department, is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl multiple times between 2020 and 2021, and his wife, Seema Rani, reportedly gave the minor survivor medicine to terminate her pregnancy.

A bench of Justices C.T. Ravi Kumar and S.V.N. Bhatti refused to interfere with the February 26 decision of the Delhi High Court rejecting the bail pleas filed by the Mr Khakha couple. Earlier, the trial court had denied the plea for statutory bail, rejecting the contention that the charge sheet filed was based on an incomplete investigation. Both Mr Khakha and his wife remain under judicial custody.

However, in January this year, the top court granted anticipatory bail to Mr Khakha’s daughter and son, noting that the duo have joined the investigation.

A police source had said that Mr Khakha kept on raping the minor daughter of his friend for months, during which his wife also allegedly assisted him. “As his wife also aided him in the act and did not report the matter to the police, we have added Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) in the FIR against his wife,” the police source had said.

“The most shocking part is that when the victim got pregnant, she was threatened with dire consequences by the accused. When the accused narrated the matter to his wife, instead of helping the victim, the woman sent her son to buy abortion pills, which she gave to the victim,” the source had said.

A case was registered under the relevant Sections of the Pocso Act and the Indian Penal Code against the accused.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant bail to the wife of suspended Delhi government officer Premoday Khakha, who allegedly raped a minor girl several times and impregnated her.

A bench of justices C T Ravikumar and S V N Bhatti dismissed the plea of the official’s wife Seema Rani and said it was not inclined to interfere with the Delhi High Court order which had dismissed her plea.

Khakha has been accused of allegedly raping a minor girl several times between November 2020 and January 2021 and is currently in judicial custody after being arrested in August.

The minor was the daughter of a person known to the accused, according to police.

Rani is also an accused in the case. She allegedly gave the girl medicines to terminate her pregnancy. The woman is in judicial custody.

The couple was arrested after the survivor recorded her statement before a magistrate at a hospital.

The case was registered under the provisions of the POCSO Act and Indian Penal Code sections 376(2)(f) (being a relative, guardian or teacher of, or a person in a position of trust or authority towards the woman, commits rape on such woman) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman).

IPC sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) have also been invoked in the case, police said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Responding to reports that suspended Delhi officer Premoday Khakha’s son or other relatives may also be involved in the sexual abuse of his friend’s minor daughter, Delhi Police have clarified that the investigation so far has not found any evidence of this.

“Till now in investigation, two persons have been found alleged in the crime and have been arrested. Further investigation is being processed,” Sagar Singh Kalsi, Deputy Commissioner of Police for North Delhi, has said. “The victim in her written statement before the Magistrate has not mentioned any other names,” the senior officer added.

Special Commissioner of Police Jitendra Pathak said reports claiming involvement of other persons are incorrect. “Till now, two persons have been found alleged in the crime and have been arrested. Further investigation is on.”

Khakha, who has been suspended as Deputy Director of Delhi Women and Child Development, and his wife Seema Rani have been arrested after the girl told police that the senior officer had raped her for months. The girl, who had stayed at the officer’s home after her father’s death in 2020, has alleged that Seema Rani gave her abortion pills after the officer impregnated her.

The couple is now in judicial custody.

Intervening in the matter, the Delhi High Court has asked police to ensure that the minor’s identity is protected. They have also asked police if their investigation had found any evidence of the girl being raped by other men too.

The matter came to light after the girl, now 17, was hospitalised following a string of panic attacks. During therapy sessions at the hospital, she told doctors about what she went through. The hospital then alerted the police who swung into action.

Khakha faces serious charges under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.