A CBI court here on Monday sentenced Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi and seven other police personnel to life imprisonment in custodial death of an accused in the rape-murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Shimla’s Kotkhai in 2017.
The other convicted police officials include then DSP Manoj Joshi, Sub-Inspector Rajinder Singh, Assistant Sub-Inspector Deep Chand Sharma, Head Constables Mohan Lal, Surat Singh and Rafee Mohammad and Constable Raneet Sateta.
During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, the counsels of the convicts prayed before the court for leniency on the basis of their age, family commitments and good service records.
CBI Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal argued for exemplary punishment due to the seriousness of the crime.
After hearing arguments, CBI Special Judge Alka Malik sentenced the eight police personnel to life imprisonment.
The court also recommended for awarding the compensation to family members of the victim Suraj Singh under victim compensation scheme.
On January 18, the accused were convicted under Sections 302, 330, 348, 218, 195, 196, 201 and 120B of the IPC for the death of a suspect, Suraj Singh. The court, however, acquitted former Shimla SP DW Negi.
The minor girl had gone missing in a Kotkhai village on July 4, 2017, while on way home from school. Her naked body was recovered two days later from a forest area and the post-mortem confirmed rape.
After massive public outrage, the Himachal government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under IGP Zaidi on July 10. Negi was entrusted with the responsibility of “timely and sustained investigation” as the case fell within his jurisdiction.
The SIT, the CBI claimed, arrested six persons on July 13 “without any evidence” and Suraj was “tortured to extract confessional statement, which led to his death” on the night of July 18 at the Kotkhai police station.
After Suraj’s death, the Himachal Pradesh High Court handed over the investigation into both rape-murder and custodial death cases to the CBI. The central agency registered a case on July 22 and arrested Zaidi and other police personnel for the custodial death.
The CBI, which subsequently arrested one Nilu, said he was the lone accused in the rape-murder while those arrested by the Himachal police were innocent. In 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the custodial death case from Shimla to the CBI’s Chandigarh court to ensure speedy trial.
In its chargesheet, the CBI said the eight accused destroyed evidence relating to Suraj’s death. They were also accused of submitting fabricated reports to the DGP to prove Suraj was killed by another accused in police lockup following a scuffle.
The post-mortem showed over 20 injuries on Suraj’s body which, the CBI claimed, couldn’t have been sustained in a scuffle. Another report by a board of AIIMS doctors too confirmed torture.
Zaidi was reinstated in November 2019 after he was released on bail on April 5, 2019, by the Supreme Court.
