FACTS SO FAR
Eyewitnesses quoted by newspapers and TV channels retracted their statements before a judicial magistrate No victim has so far approached the police, the designated judicial magistrate in Sonepat, the help desks set up by the district legal service authorities, or the all-women special investigation team (SIT) The Chandigarh-based English daily that first reported the “gang rapes” and the news website that claimed to have spoken to the rape victims have failed to respond to the police queries. Sonepat superintendent of police Abhishek Garg said they wrote to the newspaper and the website seeking details of victims and witnesses, “but so far we have not received any response” A news channel, which claimed to have received an e-mail from a non-resident Indian (NRI) victim, too backtracked. Head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Rajshree Singh, a DIGrank officer, said, “We could not obtain the e-mail address from which the mail was sent. We even spoke to the news channel but they said that they saw the clip on social media and did not get the mail directly. As of now, we don’t have any victim and eyewitness in the case and we will submit our final report to the court.”
POLICE STATUS REPORT
Owners of 13 vehicles vandalised and torched near Murthal on the intervening night of February 21-22 confirmed that no incident of molestation and rape took place that night CCTV footage at Amrik-Sukhdev Dhaba at Murthal did not show any woman with torn clothes Some old garments found near the spot may be from a tribal community (Gadia-Lohar) that were putting up there a few days before the incident. Police have sent the clothes for forensic examination.
MOTIVATED RAPE COMPLAINTS POURED IN
The case of an alleged rape victim who filed a complaint with the police on February 28 alleging gang-rape by seven persons, including her brother-in-law on February 23 near Murthal, is an unrelated case and on verge of closure A Delhi cop is also in the dock after his wife filed a “politically motivated” rape complaint with the Sonepat police. Sonepat superintendent of police Abhishek Garg said they have initiated criminal proceedings against the cop and written to the commissioner of Delhi police for initiation of departmental action.