Free Press Journal: Kainaz Choksey: Mumbai: Monday, September 25, 2017.
The wife of rape accused Raj alias Hari Shankar Awadh Bihari Shukla (35) has filed an inquiry under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to seek justice for her husband who is lodged at Thane central jail. Hari, a school teacher, was arrested on December 14, 2016, on charges of raping a 13-year-old girl from Navi Mumbai’s Mahatma Gandhi Mission high school.
As per the RTI, Shukla was arrested by Nerul police. As per a September 10 DNA report clearly states that Shukla is excluded as be the father of the victim’s baby. As per the RTI copy available with the Free Press Journal, Shukla is not the father of the said foetus. The wife has asked why the police filed a release of the accused when evidence was deficient (Section 169) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) report before the concerned trial court in the favour of the applicant. The RTI aslo questions why the investigating officer did not probe who the biological father of the child was. The RTI further questions why the concerned authorities were hiding the fact in the chargesheet.
Anjali Shukla (35), the wife of Hari Shankar, in her RTI also has asked who was pressurising the investigating officer for not probing the matter? It further goes on to question why the investigating officer had not conducted any inquiry into the victim’s cousin brother whose name was taken by the victim’s mother and victim herself during sonography?
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Anjali said, “My husband is on an indefinite hunger strike for the last 26 days. He is being threatened by the Thane jail authorities to break his fast. However, justice has been denied to him despite the DNA reports which state clearly that he is not the father of the victim’s child. If my husband does not get justice, I shall be sitting on an indefinite hunger strike outside Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner’s office.”
“My husband had given a written application to the enforcement agencies seeking justice or to allow him to die inside the jail. The minor girl’s cousin is responsible for it. But the police are not doing their job. The jail authorities are saying that they will allow me to meet him, only if he calls off the hunger strike, “said Anjali.
Anjali further alleged, “Twice a week, I wait outside the Thane jail in the hope that the authorities will allow me to meet him. But I am turned away. My two children are suffering because of the apathy of the police and jail authorities.” Meanwhile, the court has passed an order on Friday seeking another DNA test of Hari Shankar. The DNA sample will be sent to a private laboratory at Hyderabad.
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Nitin Vayachal, Superintendent of Thane jail said, “Anjali Shukla has been making unnecessary allegations. She is not being allowed to meet her husband as per the jail manual. It is my responsibility to take care of the health of the prisoners inside the jail and do whatever is necessary.”
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