HYDERABAD: The incident of two sisters from Mahbubnagar allegedly raped at Gandhi hospital premises by a staffer, has once again brought into light the ‘zero FIR’ issue. One of the victims, 38, and her family members claimed that initially they approached the Mahbubnagar I-Town police station to lodge a complaint, but were told that they have to lodge a complaint at Chilkalguda police station on point of jurisdiction.
However, the police denied the claims saying the victims had come to them for complaint but after learning that the case would be transferred for further investigation, they dropped the idea. In the State, the zero FIR issue came into limelight after the brutal rape and murder of a veterinarian at Shadnagar in 2019. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, even if an offence was committed outside the jurisdiction of the police station, a zero FIR would still be registered and the FIR would be then transferred to the appropriate police station as per Section 170 of the CrPC.
According to the guidelines, any victim, particularly women, can lodge a complaint against any person in any part of the country, irrespective of the jurisdiction of the occurrence of the offence and in such case of sexual assault, she can also chose her nearest hospital for medical examination also and the same FIR and reports would be sent to the police station concerned for further investigation.
The 40-year-old woman, who accompanied her 38-year-old sister and brother-in-law to Gandhi Hospital for his treatment, went missing during the treatment. Her nephew found her in a pitiable condition in the hospital premises on Sunday. After they went back to their home in Mahbubnagar, she explained to him how the lab technician Uma Maheswar had trapped and raped her with his friends.
When they went to Mahbubnagar I-Town police station to lodge a complaint, “The police personnel said that since the crime took place in Gandhi Hospital, the complaint should be filed in the hospital area only. As a result, we had to travel back to Hyderabad to lodge a complaint,” the family members of the victims told Chilkalguda police.
Mahbubnagar district police admitted that the victim had come to them for filing a complaint. “When we explained to them that a zero FIR will be issued and it would be transferred to Hyderabad for further investigation, they said they are going to Hyderabad to search for her elder sister and they will file a complaint there itself,” a police official said.