Families demand fast track court trial of Gurugram serial rapist

Sunil Kumar was arrested in December last year from Magarpur village in Jhansi, for allegedly raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in Gurugram’s Sector 66. Kumar is accused of raping and murdering at least 15 minor girls in Gurugram, Delhi, Gwalior and Jhansi.

Families of minor girls who were allegedly abducted and raped by 23-year-old Sunil Kumar, who was later identified as a serial killer by Gurugram Police, have submitted before the special court that his trial should be held in a fast track court. They cited a recent case in Sikar, Rajasthan, in which a man, booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, was convicted within five days.

Sunil Kumar is accused of raping and killing at least 15 minor girls in Gurugram, Delhi , Gwalior and Jhansi in the last few years. (Yogendra Kumar/HT File Photo)

Kumar was arrested in December last year from Magarpur village in Jhansi, for allegedly raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in Gurugram’s Sector 66. Kumar is accused of raping and murdering at least 15 minor girls in Gurugram, Delhi, Gwalior and Jhansi. During interrogation, he had confessed to raping and killing all minor girls after abducting them from community kitchens, the police said.

Families of at least three girls from Gurugram along with social and judicial activists approached the special court on Monday and demanded that this case be tried on fast track basis. “They have also given a written application for compensation,” victim’s counsel Anju Rawat Negi said.

“We want the accused to be tried in a fast track court so that justice is delivered to the victims’ families. We have seen how the accused managed to evade the judicial system by using legal tricks,” said a family member of one of the victims.

Social activist Ritu Raj said that when there have been fast track trials in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, then why not in Gurugram. “The family members have not even received notices from the court nor received any compensation. They are poor. The accused was arrested in December and the trial is yet to begin,” he said. Officials said the police are likely to file the charge sheet on Wednesday.

The police said the speed of investigation was affected because the accused was taken on production warrant a number of times as there are several charges against him in different states.

Earlier, the families also met chief judicial magistrate for getting compensation, but said the process is moving very slowly.

Chief judicial magistrate-cum-secretary of DLSA (District Legal Services Authority) Narender Singh said that in cases related to the POCSO Act, the quantum of compensation is decided by the trial court. Thereafter, the recommendation is to be made to the DLSA, which disburses the compensation from the Victim Compensation Scheme. “We will demand capital punishment for the accused and will write for compensation to the DLSA on Wednesday,” Negi said.

In the Rajasthan case cited before the court, a four-year-old girl was raped in Khatu in Sikar district of Rajasthan on January 31 and Sikar district court completed the trial in five working days. On February 11, the man was sentenced to life imprisonment till death.