The police and judiciary in Rajasthan have come in for praise for speedy trial in the sexual assault of a two-year-old girl in Hanumangarh. The case was wrapped up in 28 days with the district and sessions court convicting the accused on Wednesday. However, the quickest trial in the state so far has been in the Bitti Mahanti case, in which a German national alleged rape in 2006 and the sentencing took 21 days. In the Hanumangarh case, Gurbej Singh, a 65-year-old retired Armyman, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl who lived in his neighbourhood in Chak Do Kanj near Makkasar village on the state’s border with Punjab. The girl was playing in the neighbourhood when Singh took her home and raped her. The police are being lauded for nabbing the culprit soon after the incident was reported and filing a watertight chargesheet. Hanumangarh SP Sharat Kaviraj told The Indian Express, “We left no scope for any loopholes right from the beginning. The FIR was registered very carefully so that there were no discrepancies in the complainant’s version and the written complaint. Senior officers were put on the job to go to the scene and investigate the crime. We also managed to nab the culprit in time which helped in collecting evidence against him.” The incident took place on August 26 and the accused was arrested the next day. A detailed chargesheet was filed on August 29 and the trial, held on daily basis, concluded on Wednesday with Singh’s conviction. “The entire process took 28 days and this shows that if the police and judiciary want they can deliver such speedy trial. But in this case we did seek special attention and asked the court for day-to-day hearings. This might not be possible in every case but be done in special cases,” Kaviraj said.
