Police pulled up for forcing girl to reach ‘settlement’ with rapist, fined Rs 25,000

A Delhi court on Monday pulled up police for threatening a 13-year-old girl against lodging a rape case and forcing her to reach a settlement with him.

Lambasting police for its "inaction and apathy", Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Jain also ordered it to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 to the victim.

"In the case, police had not only violated the legal rights of the victim and her family by showing disrespect to them, but also violated the legal and human rights of the victim by not lodging the FIR and pressurising her to settle the matter with the accused. Delhi Police is directed to pay Rs 25,000 to the victim," the court said.

"It is pertinent to state that the victim of rape does not only suffer physical injury but also psychological and emotional trauma. Such victims are required to be dealt with in a cordial atmosphere, but instead of helping the victim and her family, police added to their trauma by not lodging an FIR of the incident. Thus, to my mind, the victim deserves compensation from the police for their inaction and apathy," the court said.

The court passed the order while convicting Central Delhi resident Birju alias Mathur for raping a 13-year-old girl after kidnapping her.

According to the prosecution, the victim had approached the police post of Jai Prakash Narain Hospital under Indraprastha Estate police on December 12, 2011 along with her mother and told the personnel that she was kidnapped and raped by Birju on November 27, 2011.

Medical examination of the girl confirmed rape.

During the trial, amicus curiae pointed out the inordinate delay in lodging of the FIR. The prosecution said the girl had not reported the matter to the police in time due to fear and for sake of his family's honour.

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