Ghaziabad: The SHO who handled the case of alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl was shunted to police lines and a departmental inquiry initiated against him following allegations of negligence and procedural delays in carrying out the probe, UP govt told Supreme Court on Thursday.Additional solicitor-general Aishwarya Bhati informed a bench headed by CJI Surya Kant that Nandgram SHO Umesh Kumar was shunted for failing to act swiftly on the family’s complaint. The court had earlier noted allegations that local police initially harassed the girl’s family instead of registering an FIR.Police submitted that the crime site — an isolated plot overgrown with dense brush — has since been cleared and regular patrolling instituted. “The bushes were cut, dumped garbage was cleared, and anti-social elements were removed. Patrols are conducted regularly now,” a senior officer said.An SIT formed by the apex court corroborated the father’s statement that two private facilities — Khajan Singh Manvi Health Care and St Joseph Hospital — denied emergency care to his child, who died while being shifted to a district govt facility. The court observed prima facie that the hospitals showed “utter negligence” because the girl belonged to a poor family.The incident occurred on March 16, when a neighbour lured the four-year-old girl away with chocolates. The child’s body was later recovered in bushes roughly 500 metres from her home. An autopsy revealed 11 injuries, including head trauma, strangulation marks, and sexual assault.On April 3, police filed a 900-page chargesheet under BNS sections 103 (murder), 238 (disappearance of evidence), and 66 (inflicting injuries resulting in death), along with sections 5/6 of Pocso Act and relevant provisions of the SC/ST Act. The accused, who was injured in a police encounter after allegedly firing at a recovery team, is lodged in Dasna jail.
