The Supreme Court intervened on Friday by mandating the creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh. The court also ordered a review of potential negligence by two private hospitals involved in the case.
The bench acknowledged that the trial had begun but considered the family’s worries about the public prosecutor’s performance and the risk of an unjust process. It recorded the parents’ claims without endorsing them, including accusations against the hospitals.
Describing the crime as horrific and noting the family’s frustration with the initial inquiry, the court instructed the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police to assemble an SIT featuring significant female representation. The team must include a female Inspector General, a female Superintendent of Police, and a female Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The SIT is required to start work on Saturday, address the parents’ complaints, safeguard private witnesses, and scrutinize the hospitals’ involvement. According to the family’s account, the child’s death resulted from the hospitals’ failure to provide care; the first refused admission despite the girl being alive, and the second handled the situation irresponsibly.
The Supreme Court has temporarily halted the trial court proceedings. The SIT must finish its work in two weeks and deliver a report to the court’s Registrar (Judicial).
In the hearing, the father’s lawyer, Senior Advocate N Hariharan, accused police of forceful behavior, claiming officers pulled the father to give a statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, even after the probe was supposedly finished and charges filed. He highlighted video evidence of the incident and questioned the timing, especially since hospital affidavits confirmed the child was alive upon arrival.
The legal team also suggested that investigators were protecting the hospitals, as no hospital staff had been questioned. The court noted these issues, including claims of local police misconduct and hospital negligence, and stressed the need for a thorough review to guarantee fairness.
