Chennai: Karnataka opposition leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday slammed the state police for failing to obtain statement from the victim in the Mysuru gang rape case.
According to a report in The Hindu, Siddaramaiah said that the law mandates the police to record the victim’s statement but they have not followed the due procedure.
Pointing out DGP and IG Praveen Sood’s statement, the report said that he had recently claimed that the victim was traumatised by the incident and they would wait for her to recover before recording her statement. Citing the example of a similar case reported in Manipal in 2013, Sood said they are trying to build up technical and scientific evidence to get a conviction without the victim’s statement.
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According to the report, Siddaramaiah said that the victim’s statement would make sure stringent punishment for the accused and the police officers were bound to record her statement. He further said that he was not stating that the victim should be compelled to make a statement.
Quoting the opposition leader, the report said that it looks like the family was being compelled by the government not to issue a statement as it is a stigma to their administration. “This is a serious incident and I will also raise it in the assembly,” he said.
Siddaramaiah said that there was a delay of 15 hours in filing the FIR and questioned the police for not registering it immediately after the victim and her friend narrated the incident at the hospital, according to the report.
Pointing out how the government and police officers were taking credit for arresting the accused of this case within five days, he said that they should have taken measures to prevent such incidents from occurring.