Himachal IGP, 7 other cops get life imprisonment in custodial death case

A CBI court in Chandigarh on Monday sentenced Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi and seven other police personnel to life imprisonment in custodial death of an accused in the rape-murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Shimla’s Kotkhai in 2017. The other convicted police officials include then DSP Manoj Joshi, Sub-Inspector Rajinder Singh, Assistant Sub-Inspector Deep Chand Sharma, Head Constables Mohan Lal, Surat Singh and Rafee Mohammad and Constable Raneet Sateta. During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, the counsels of the convicts prayed before the court for leniency on the basis of their age, family commitments and good service records.
CBI Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal argued for exemplary punishment due to the seriousness of the crime. After hearing arguments, CBI Special Judge Alka Malik sentenced the eight police personnel to life imprisonment.The court also recommended for awarding the compensation to family members of the victim Suraj Singh.On January 18, the accused were convicted  under Sections 302, 330, 348, 218, 195, 196, 201 and 120B of the IPC for the death of a suspect, Suraj Singh. The court, however, acquitted former Shimla SP DW Negi.
The minor girl had gone missing in a Kotkhai village on July 4, 2017, while on way home from school. Her naked body was recovered two days later from a forest area and the post-mortem confirmed rape. After massive public outrage, the Himachal government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under IGP Zaidi on July 10. Negi was entrusted with the responsibility of “timely and sustained investigation” as the case fell within his jurisdiction. The SIT, the CBI claimed, arrested six persons on July 13 “without any evidence” and Suraj was “tortured to extract confessional statement, which led to his death” on the night of July 18 at the Kotkhai police station.