Missing UP minor girl: SC hands probe over to Delhi Police

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed the probe of a case filed in Uttar Pradesh to the Delhi Police. The case was filed after a 13-year-old girl went missing from Gorakhpur on July 8. The Delhi Police had recently found the girl and arrested the kidnapper.

The bench, headed by Justice AM Khanwilker, said that all the documents collected by the UP police in connection with the case have been handed over to the Delhi Police.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) RS Suri, who appeared for the Delhi Police, informed the bench that the minor had been found. Her abductor was arrested from Kolkata on September 2 and brought here on September 4. The girl was examined and counselled at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

When the SC directed to handover the investigation to Delhi Police, Suri told a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar that the girl had married the accused on July 15. She refused to go with her mother as "she was upset with her parents". He added that the girl was handed over to Gorakhpur police as they wanted her in custody to produce before a magistrate.

As the minor's pregnancy test was positive, Advocate Pai Amit, who appeared for the girl's mother, asked the bench to do something immediately. The mother had filed the petition urging the UP police and Delhi police for the recovery of her daughter. Though the girl is said to be 15-16 years old, her age on Aadhaar is 13. Meanwhile, the girl claims that she is 17 years old. AIIMS have referred her to the forensic department to pinpoint her accurate age.

"We will transfer the investigation to the Delhi Police. That we will do immediately. But, how should we go thereafter, you should indicate it to us," the bench told the ASG, who said he would discuss the issue and inform the bench about it.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on September 14. The counsel told the bench that he has no objection to transferring the probe to the Delhi Police. The court handed over the investigation to the Delhi Police and asked the UP Police to extend full cooperation. The apex court has directed the Gorakhpur Police to forward all investigation records to Malviya Nagar Police Station. The court further asked them to take the necessary action required to protect the minor and her family from adverse circumstances.

On September 3, the Delhi Police informed the SC that the girl was recovered, and the man who is suspected of abducting her was arrested from Kolkata. The court directed the UP police to conduct an inquiry on the case and later ordered to hand over the investigation to the Delhi police on September 1.

The minor's mother claimed that her daughter was kidnapped from Gorakhpur by a man when her family members had gone there to attend a marriage ceremony and filed an FIR. The petitioner asked to investigate the kidnapping of her daughter and take appropriate action against those involved.

No action was taken to trace the minor until a habeas corpus petition was filed seeking to produce the girl before the court.

The mother claimed that she had complained regarding the man before at Gorakhpur police station. Still, the police refused to take the initiative to register or take action regarding the missing, she alleged.