AMN / NEW DELHI
A senior official of the Women and Child Development department was arrested on Monday on charges of raping his friend’s 14-year-old daughter (now 17-years-old) over months and impregnating her. The official’s wife, who is accused of giving the survivor abortion pills, was also arrested.
The Delhi government official has also been suspended on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s order.
The detention comes hours after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered the suspension of the official, who has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
“The accused deputy director and his wife are being interrogated. Any other witnesses or accused will be made a part of the investigation”, DCP North District Sagar Singh Kalsi, told MEDIA.
Earlier in the day, the police had registered an FIR against the official, who served as deputy director in the women and child development department. According to the investigators, the minor girls lived in a north Delhi neighbourhood with her parents. Her father, a senior official in the Delhi government, died in 2020.
The girl’s mother is also a Delhi government official. The victim and the accused had met at a religious place in Burari, which they would often visit with their families.
According to police officials, when the girl’s father died in 2020, the accused official offered to take her to his home to support her and help recover from the trauma of losing the parent.
The matter was brought to light when the girl, who is now in Class XII, narrated her ordeal to a counsellor after being hospitalised this month for panic attacks. She was admitted to St Stephen’s Hospital, where she told a counsellor about the abuse.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has labelled the officer a ‘predator’ and called for his arrest. “… if the one whose job was to protect the daughters turns into a predator, then where will the girls go! Must be arrested soon!” she said.
He allegedly raped the girl several times at his residence between October 2020 and February 2021. In 2021, the girl found she was pregnant and confided in the official’s wife who warned her not to reveal the abuse to anyone. She even gave abortion pills to the girl.
After a while, the girl’s mother met her daughter at the accused official’s residence. The daughter asked to be taken home on account of poor health. The girl encounter the suspect official at the religious place who molested her, police said.