This story is from July 14, 2017

SIT fails to find any Murthal gang-rape survivor

The special investigation team (SIT), probing allegations of women having been raped at Murthal near Sonipat during the 2016 Jat agitation for reservation, has not found any victim related to the incident.
SIT fails to find any Murthal gang-rape survivor
Amicus curiae Anupam Gupta alleged that the SIT was trying to wash their hands of the case.
CHANDIGARH: The special investigation team (SIT), probing allegations of women having been raped at Murthal near Sonipat during the 2016 Jat agitation for reservation, has not found any victim related to the incident. The SIT made this submission before the Punjab and Haryana high court during the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday.
Earlier, the HC had taken suo motu cognizance of a media report regarding the alleged incident of rapes.
When the matter related to Murthal came up for hearing before the division bench comprising Justice S S Saron and Justice Avneesh Jhingan, SIT chief and inspector general of police (IGP) Mamta Singh submitted the investigation report in a sealed cover to the bench.
A copy of the report was also provided to senior advocate Anupam Gupta, who is assisting the HC as amicus curiae. After going through the report, Gupta told the court, "There is no new input in the SIT report even after one and half years of investigation and they are only washing their hands of."
He further said that the report has made it clear that they have failed to find any victim and this report is a "final no" from SIT on the issue. Seeking HC directions to hand over the Murthal rape case issue to CBI, Gupta said, "Let the CBI investigate the matter and say no on the issue. I will be satisfied, if the premier agency probes the issue and even finds nothing of the issue."
Hearing that, the bench fixed August 17 for arguments in the case. Justice Saron also ordered that the SIT report be handed over to Gupta for preparation of his arguments on the issue. The bench, however, specifically asked him not to share the contents of the report with anyone.
Earlier in December 2016, the HC had allowed the Haryana government to prosecute the reporter of an online portal for fabricating a story regarding the alleged rape of a minor girl. The reporter had recorded the voice of one of his relatives and had presented it as statement of a mother of some victim allegedly raped at Murthal during the agitation.
The SIT had also found that one Surjeet Gagg from Punjab, another witness of an anonymous letter regarding Australian women having been raped at Murthal, had also deposed before the court that the letter was his "figment of his imagination" and was posted on social media after reading the news reports about women being raped near Murthal.Meanwhile, the counsel for the CBI, Sumeet Goel, informed the HC on Thursday that the agency had registered a case and had taken over the investigation to probe the incident related to breach of Munak Canal near Sonipat. The breach also took place during the February 2016 Jat violence.
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About the Author
Ajay Sura

Ajay Sura is Senior Assistant Editor with The Times of India Chandigarh. He covers news concerning the State of Haryana, Punjab & Haryana High Court and Defence & Military Affairs. He likes to analyse political developments and decoding judicial pronouncements. His hobbies include travelling, mountaineering and trekking.

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