
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday said that statements of two witnesses read out in the court made it evident that rape had been committed at Murthal during last February’s Jat quota agitation. It ordered the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged rape to redouble its efforts to identify the victims and perpetrators.
A division bench said this after amicus curiae, Anupam Gupta, read statements of two witnesses, Delhi resident Boby Joshi and taxi driver, Raj Kumar. It recorded in its order that from these statements as well as clothes laced with semen found strewn at Murthal, it was evident that rape had been committed. The bench restrained a Sonepat court from framing charges against five accused in the case for offences other than rape.
WATCH VIDEO | Evident Murthal Rape Took Place During Jat Agitation, Says Punjab and Haryana High Court
Gupta pointed out a number of loopholes in SIT’s investigation as well as its shift in stand before the trial court and the HC. He submitted that a wrong statement had been made before the trial court that sections of gangrape and kidnapping had been deleted from the FIR.
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Later, the court directed the SIT to file an affidavit before the trial court, saying sections of gangrape and kidnapping were still there in the FIR as investigation was still in progress. The high court asked CBI counsel Sumeet Goel whether CBI can probe cases of reservation violence.
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