A Delhi Court on Tuesday sent WCD’s deputy director Premoday Khakha (51) and wife Seema Rani (50) to one-day judicial custody. Khakha is accused for raping a friend’s minor daughter while his wife allegedly gave the victim abortion pills to terminate her pregnancy. Earlier, the matter was listed in ASJ (POCSO) judge Richa Parihar's court in Tis Hazari. However, the matter was later sent to Duty Metropolitan Magistrate, Katyayini Sharma Kandwal, since it was past 4 pm. The matter will be heard again on Wednesday in the court concerned. Uma Shanker Gautam, the counsel representing the accused, claimed that there was 'no prima facie evidence' against the accused. The Delhi Police on Monday had arrested Premoday Khakha, a senior officer in the Delhi government’s Department of Women and Child Development, and his wife in connection with the alleged rape of a teenaged girl. The victim was a friend’s minor daughter who had been in the couple’s care for two years. Police booked Khakha and his wife on charges of rape and under sections of the POCSO Act. The victim alleged that Khakha raped her multiple times between 2020 and 2021 and impregnated her, after which his wife allegedly gave her abortion pills to terminate the pregnancy. Uma Shanker Gautam termed the allegations of pregnancy 'false' stating that the accused Khakha had undergone vasectomy twenty years ago.
