NEW DELHI: A local court on Wednesday extended judicial custody of suspended senior Delhi government official Premoday Khakha, who allegedly raped a minor girl several times and impregnated her, by 14 days.
Additional Sessions Judge (POCSO) Richa Parihar also extended the judicial custody of Khakha’s wife Seema Rani, who has been charged with giving the girl medicines to terminate her pregnancy, by two weeks.
The couple were produced at Tis Hazari Court in the city after the end of their one-day judicial custody while the hearing was held in a closed court room. Khakha (51), who was a deputy director in the Women and Child Development (WCD), had allegedly raped the girl several times between November 2020 and January 2021.
Umashankar Gautam, who appeared in the court for the accused said that the victim could not have got impregnated since Khakha had undergone a vasectomy in 2005, around 20 years ago.
The lawyer said the court has sought a report on the medical board’s findings about the vasectomy procedure Khakha claimed to have undergone, before his judicial custody ends on September 6.
“The medical board has been formed to find whether any lacuna occurred during the vasectomy surgery. Its report will be submitted before the court,’’ he said. He said the court has directed Delhi Police to ‘’accelerate’’ the investigation and file the charge sheet timely.
“Police did not file any application seeking police custody of the accused persons,’’ he said. It is worthwhile to mention Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has issued notices to St Stephens Hospital and DCP North Delhi seeking an explanation for their “uncooperative behaviour” obstructing the Commission’s duty to gather vital information and ensuring appropriate measures for the welfare of the girl child.
According to police, the minor had started living with her guardian-turned-accused Khakha, in Burari, after the death of her father on October 1, 2020. The girl, now in Class XII, recently narrated the incident to a counsellor at a hospital where she was admitted following an anxiety attack.
The police have registered a case against the couple under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 376(2)(f) (being a relative, guardian or teacher of, or a person in a position of trust or authority towards the woman, commits rape on such woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman).
He had vasectomy in 2005, says lawyer
The lawyer who appeared to defend the accused said that the victim could not have been impregnated by Khakha, now suspended by Delhi govt, since he had undergone a vasectomy in 2005. The lawyer said the court has sought a report on the medical board’s findings about the vasectomy.