Arvind Kejriwal sacks Delhi government's senior official accused of raping, impregnating friend's minor daughter

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered suspension of the rape accused Delhi government official and has sought a report from Chief Secretary by 5 pm Monday (21 August). The accused, a deputy director in the Women and Child Development (WCD) department in the Delhi government, has been booked for allegedly raping his deceased friend’s minor daughter several times and impregnating her. “The Delhi Police’s failure to arrest the officer is the worst part of this case. Everyone has daughters, and this is a very shameful act. The officer should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said.

VIDEO | "The incident is a shame on humanity. It is surprising as to why the official was not suspended. Today, the CM (Arvind Kejriwal) had to give an order for his suspension. Why hasn't the Delhi Police arrested him yet?" says Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Delhi… pic.twitter.com/EX64SIfLBy

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 21, 2023

As per reports, the victim met the accused at a church. After her father’s death on 1 October, 2020, the minor girl got into depression and the accused, who had already befriends her, took her to his house on the pretext of helping her. Sources told News18 that the girl, a Class 12 student was allegedly administered abortion pills by the accused’s wife. She was also forced to terminate her pregnancy by the wife of the accused. The accused had allegedly raped the girl several times between November 2020 and January 2021. “The survivor said that she started living with a family friend, her guardian, after her father’s death from October 2020 to February 2021. She was sexually harassed, physically molested and repeatedly raped by the uncle under whose care and guardianship she was staying at his house. The survivor started having anxiety bouts and was admitted to a hospital a week back,” the police official said. The cop further said the victim revealed about the abuse to the doctors after extensive psychological counseling. “She stated having undergone termination of pregnancy by the accused and his wife. Medical examination has been done. Investigation is in progress," the police official said. The matter involving the official and his wife came to light when the girl, who is now in Class 12, recently narrated the incident to a counsellor at a hospital where she was admitted following an anxiety attack, the police officer said. When the minor allegedly became pregnant, she told the wife of the accused who later asked her son to get pregnancy termination medicine and gave them to the girl, the officer said. In January, the victim returned home with her mother who had then visited the Delhi government official’s house to meet her daughter. She had an anxiety attack in August this year and her mother admitted her to St Stephen’s hospital, where the girl narrated the whole incident during the counselling session, the officer added. The hospital the informed the Burari police station in Delhi and a case was registered against the accused under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said. In a statement earlier, the Delhi government said “the sternest possible action should be taken against him” if found guilty. “He (the accused) is a deputy director in the WCD Department. Since an FIR has been lodged in the alleged matter, the law should take its course. The Delhi government is sensitive in regard to such serious matters of women’s safety and child abuse. If he has committed any such reprehensible act, the sternest possible action should be taken against him,” the government said in a statement. With inputs from agencies