Arvind Kejriwal's Move To Sack Officer Accused Of Raping Friend's Daughter

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered the suspension of the senior official in Delhi government's Women and Child Development department who was charged with raping his friend's 14-year-old daughter over several months. 

Mr Kejriwal has also sought a report from the Chief Secretary by 5 pm today.

"The officer committed a heinous act. His wife was also complicit in the crime. This is an incident that has shaken the society. Action should have been taken sooner, but the Chief Minister has now ordered the officer's suspension. A report has been sought from the Chief Secretary by 5 pm. The Delhi Police's failure to arrest the officer is the worst part of this case. Everyone has daughters, and this is a very shameful act. The officer should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said. 

The Delhi officer met with the survivor for the first time at a church. Their paths crossed in 2020 when the rape-survivor was still mourning her father's death, she said in her police complaint.

The girl was staying with the accused -- Premoday Khakha, a deputy director in the WCD department -- and his family at their home after her father's death on October 1, 2020.

According to the police, Khakha allegedly raped the girl on multiple occasions between November 2020 and January 2021. The accused's wife has also been charged with giving the girl medication to terminate her pregnancy. When the girl became pregnant, she told Khakha's wife. The wife then asked her son to get medication to terminate the pregnancy and gave it to the girl.

"The sternest possible action should be taken against him if found guilty. He (the accused) is a deputy director in the WCD Department. Since an FIR has been lodged in the alleged matter, the law should take its course. The Delhi government is sensitive in regard to such serious matters of women's safety and child abuse. If he has committed any such reprehensible act, the sternest possible action should be taken against him," the Delhi government said in a statement.

The matter was brought to light when the girl, who is now in Class XII, narrated her ordeal to a counsellor at the hospital where she was admitted for an anxiety attack in August this year. She was admitted to St Stephen's Hospital, where she told a counsellor about the abuse she had experienced. The survivor returned home to her mother in January 2021.

The survivor is still on the road to recovery and is receiving care.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal termed the officer a "predator" and called for his immediate arrest.

"In Delhi, a government officer sitting on the post of Deputy Director in the Women and Child Development Department has been accused of sexually abusing a girl child. The police haven't arrested him yet. Issuing notice to Delhi Police. If the one whose job was to protect the daughters turns into a predator, then where will the girls go! Must be arrested soon!" Ms Maliwal wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.