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Judicial inquiry, med report on alleged custodial rape presented before JHC; hearing on July 9
Jharkhand High Court reviewed reports on alleged jail exploitation; victim now denies incident, requesting to be excluded. Next hearing set for July 9.
The judicial inquiry report and medical report concerning the alleged sexual exploitation of a female inmate by jail authority at Birsa Munda Central Jail were presented before Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday.
A high court advocate close to the matter informed that the development took place before a division bench headed by the chief justice.
“The matter was heard in the division bench of Chief Justice MS Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar. After the report was presented, the court deferred the hearing,” the advocate said.
Advocate general Mrinal Kanti Roy said, “The court did not pass any order; next hearing will take place on July 9.”
On May 21 the HC initiated suo-motu PIL under case number W.P(PIL)/3892/2026 titled “Court in its Own Motion Vs State of Jharkhand through Principal Secretary, Department of Home, Prison and Disaster Management and Others”.
The court took action after information regarding custodial rape came to fore through media reports based on a letter of LoP Babulal Marandi, addressed to CM Hemant Soren.
An advocate close to the matter said during the pendency of the case, a new twist emerged when the “victim” denied that the incident had occurred.
“In a letter submitted to the court, the alleged victim said nothing untoward had happened to her in jail, she did not wish for an investigation, and did not want to give a statement to anyone. Requesting to be kept out of the matter, she asserted that all allegations were merely rumours tarnishing her image in the media,” the advocate said.
“The statement came after the victim was granted bail by the vacation court. When the matter was subsequently listed for a hearing in the regular court, the division bench expressed surprise and suspicion regarding the bail. The court took serious note of the development and summoned both a medical probe report and a judicial probe report. In accordance with the court’s earlier order, reports regarding the judicial inquiry and the forensic examination for sexual assault have been submitted by the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS),” the advocate said.
