Taking a grim view of the spurt in crimes against women in UP, the Allahabad High Court today decided to monitor the probe into the Badaun gangrape and murder case and asked the Director General of Police to submit a detailed report of the investigation into the matter and all such cases registered in the state in the last six weeks.
The court also ordered adequate security for family members of the victims.
A division bench comprising justices Tarun Agarwala and Ram Surat Ram Maurya passed the order on a PIL filed by Stree Mukti Sangathan, which had sought the court's directions to state authorities for an expeditious probe into the Badaun case and stern action against the culprits.
Fixing July 3 as the next date of hearing in the matter, the court asked the state's Director General of Police to submit a detailed report of the investigation into the matter so far besides stating that "we shall be monitoring the investigation in the case".
The court also said that adequate security be provided to the family members of the two girls, who were raped and murdered before their bodies were hung from a tree, "if the same has not been provided till now".
Besides, the court asked the DGP to submit a report containing details of "all such cases of crimes against women that may have been registered across all police stations of the state in the last six weeks".
The two teenaged girls, who were cousins aged 14 and 15 years, were allegedly gangraped and murdered with their bodies found hanging from a mango tree, a day after they went missing on May 27, in a village in Ushait area in Badaun.
Earlier in the day, the Lucknow bench of the court reserved its order on a PIL seeking direction for a CBI probe into the case.
The order was reserved by a vacation bench of justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and Rajan Roy here on the PIL filed by NGO 'We the People' through its general secretary Prince Lenin.
On behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government, Additional Advocate General Bulbul Godiyal submitted that the CBI has accepted the government's request for a probe by the agency.
She said adequate security has been provided to the family members of the victims as well as the witnesses.
The petitioner had sought direction for a CBI probe into the Badaun incident as well as action against the erring police officers concerned, besides providing adequate security to the family members of the victims.
