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The High Court also upheld allegations against the officer’s wife Seema Rani of abortion of a minor girl and disappearing the evidence.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has refused to dismiss the allegations against suspended Delhi government official Premodaya Khakha. He is allegedly accused of raping a minor girl several times. The High Court also upheld allegations against the officer’s wife Seema Rani of abortion of a minor girl and disappearing the evidence. Despite being aware, the court also refused to dismiss the allegations against two children and wife under Section 21 of the Poxo Act for not reporting the crime.
Court rejected the argument of the accused
Justice Swarn Kana Sharma, passed on July 15 and provided on July 28, said that the court believes that the Sessions Court does not have any deformity or legal weakness in the order to frame allegations under Section 376 (2) (F), 376 (F), 376 (F), 376 (3), 323 and 354 and Poxo Act against the petitioner Premodaya Khakha. Being in a state of faith or right to her and raping a girl under 16 years of age and hurt her. The court also dismissed Premodaya’s argument that the allegations against him should be dismissed or it should be acquitted on the basis that he had earlier sterilized and he could not allegedly make the victim pregnant. The accused had argued that even if the girl’s allegations were accepted as true, she could not have been pregnant as she had sterilized in 2005, which was allegedly disabled for breeding.
Officer is in judicial custody
In this regard, the session court has made a correct comment that just by sterilization, it is not decisively established that the accused was unable to sexually harass or make the victim pregnant. The High Court said that it has been rightly stated that sterilization is not infallible as a medical procedure and there are medical documents in which cases of pregnancy have been reported despite the male partner conducting such procedure. Premodaya is accused of raping a minor daughter of an acquaintance between November 2020 and January 2021 several times. He is currently in judicial custody since his arrest in August 2023. The officer’s wife Seema Rani allegedly gave medicines to the girl for abortion. He is also in judicial custody. The High Court, while dismissing the petitions of Premodaya, Seema, his son Harsh Prateek and Daughter waiting, ordered this, in which the lower court challenged the framework against him.
Case filed under Poxo Act on accused
The High Court said that there is no legal deficiency or deformity in the lower court order. Keeping the allegations against Seema and his two children, the court said that despite having information, the incident was not reported to the authorities. The court said that the material available on records, including clear statements and surrounding circumstances, sufficiently indicate that the said accused knew about the crime and failed to inform the concerned authorities. The husband and wife were arrested in August 2023 after the victim recorded her statement in front of the magistrate in a hospital. His children were granted anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court in January 2024. The case was registered under the provisions of the Poxo Act and the Indian Penal Code.
