NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court asked the police officials to file a quarterly status report before the metropolitan magistrate on a case by the parents of a 14-year-old girl who had gone missing from Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in 2018. A bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shalinder Kaur also directed the police to inform the parents if there are any leads on the case.
The bench noted that all possible efforts have been made to trace the girl and the investigation with regard to the FIR is pending due to the absence of leads . “...all possible efforts to trace the missing girl have been made and the FIR lodged in the case is pending investigation,” the order said.
As per the case, the mother of the girl had taken her to get an injection for a dog bite injury at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, from where she went missing. Despite an extensive search of the hospital premises, the girl could not be found.CCTV footage of the hospital accessed by the police showed two boys sitting on either side of the missing girl harassing her. Also, four boys were seen following her when she left.
The petitioner alleged that despite the CCTV footage, no steps were taken by the Investigating Officer and an FIR was registered at Kalyanpuri Police Station after the intervention from the Delhi Commission for Women. The FIR alleged that despite having information, police refused to take any steps to locate the girl following which a plea was filed before the high court.
The police, in its report, said the suspects were re-examined regarding the missing girl but it did not provide any leads in locating her. The police also said they have been reviewing data on missing persons and unclaimed bodies regularly in an effort to locate the girl by matching her details but no match has appeared till date.