Bhatta rape case: Police revision plea dismissed

A Noida court on Monday ordered an FIR to be registered against 16 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) men on a complaint of rape during the police crackdown on protesting farmers in Bhatta-Parsaul on May 7.

A Noida court on Monday ordered an FIR to be registered against 16 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) men on a complaint of rape during the police crackdown on protesting farmers in Bhatta-Parsaul on May 7. Noida district judge Het Singh Yadav dismissed the Greater Noida police's revision petition against an earlier order to have an FIR registered against them.

HT Image

The police told the court that the Crime Bureau of the Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) was already investigating the case and an FIR would lead to a parallel probe.

Two policemen and two farmers were killed in the police action against locals agitating for more compensation for land acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government. Soon after, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had visited the Greater Noida villages and said women had allegedly been raped by policemen during the crackdown.

The Bahujan Samaj Party government headed by Mayawati had, however, repeatedly denied allegations of rape. After teams of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and National Commission for Women (NCW) visited the villages, some women filed affidavits alleging rape. One woman approached the district court and it was on her complaint that the court directed the Greater Noida police to file an FIR.

Recently, six other victims also filed petitions in the chief judicial magistrate's court, which is expected to order filing of FIRs in these cases, too. Reacting to Monday's development, Anuj Choudhary, station house officer of Dankore, under whose jurisdiction the villages are, said, "We will seek directions from senior officers and act accordingly."

District government counsel KK Singh said, "The police will now have to file an FIR."