Sketch of the man accused of raping a minor girl inside the toilet of her school in Goa last year
A year after a seven-year-old girl was brutally raped inside the toilet of her school in Vasco in south Goa, the CBI is yet to make any arrests in the case.
The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation nine months after the crime took place.
The father of the child still awaits justice. "I will get justice if the concerned authorities work properly and if they truly think that my daughter is their daughter. I would like to thank the press, the media and NDTV because they have focused on my problem."
He also blamed the state government for the delay in arrests. "The incident occurred in the school toilet and they handed over the case to crime branch that day itself," he said. The case was handed over to the CBI much later.
"There is no doubt that the police has acted in this manner in this case to ensure that the politically well-connected rapist goes scot-free. In fact, the Chief Minister has a lot to explain," Aires Rodrigues, the victim's lawyer told NDTV.
Sources in CBI say their request for a woman police constable to help in the investigation is still pending with the state government. The agency also says it isn't convinced about the absence of even one eye witness. It also says crucial forensic evidence, destroyed by school authorities, is also hampering probe.
The girl's father says she is still scared and traumatised after the incident.
"The Chief Minister has not visited us even once... As you can see in Tejpal's case, the entire machinery is being utilised and in my case, hardly anything has been done," he told NDTV.
The family is now pinning its hopes on the intervention of the Governor who they plan to approach in the next few days.