The workers of newly-founded Aam Aadmi Party, led by its convenor Arvind Kejriwal, and a large number of locals staged a protest outside the Narela police station here on Saturday for several hours accusing the police of not taking action in a case pertaining to the alleged rape of a minor by a 60-year-old neighbour a week ago and demanded the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) in the matter.
Though Aam Aadmi party workers claimed that the police manhandled them when they along with the family of the victim and locals reached the police station in the morning demanding the registration of an FIR and gave in after Mr. Kejriwal reached there around 4.30 p.m., the police maintained that the case had been registered even before the protest began.
In fact, the Aam Aadmi party workers and the police had entirely different versions of the story.
Accusing the police of not taking prompt action in the sensational case, Vaibhav Kumar of Aam Aadmi party said: “The four-year-old girl was raped by her 60-year-old neighbour on November 25, but the family initially did not approach the police as her father was away. On November 27, the family made a call to the Police Control Room, but there was no action. The family finally approached our volunteers on November 30 who took the girl to hospital and the medical examination confirmed the rape. The agitated locals and our volunteers gathered outside the police station in the morning today demanding action, but no case was registered. It was only after Mr. Kejriwal reached the police station that the police swung into action and registered a case of attempt to rape.”
However, contradicting the version of the Aam Aadmi party workers, a senior police officer maintained that the medical examination of the girl did not confirm rape. “The girl’s family had approached the police on November 28 and gave a statement in writing in presence of a woman member of a government-appointed non-government organisation. It is mandatory these days for the police to involve NGOs in cases pertaining to crime against women. In the statement, the victim’s family made no mention of rape or molestation and said that they did not want any action. The statement was signed by the NGO member as well and no action was taken.”