The Jharkhand High Court came down heavily on the state police for its inaction in investigating the death of minor girl in Giridih in March and drew a parallel with Hathras in Uttar Pradesh that has sparked a national outrage over unspeakable brutalities committed against a Dalit girl who died after being allegedly gang raped last month.

Shocked at the death of a 15-year-old girl in Giridih over an alleged rape attempt, Justice Ananda Sen, while hearing a writ petition filed by the victim’s father, commented: “Hathras is not only in the Uttar Pradesh, but also is in the state of Jharkhand.”

The court, while hearing the case through video-conferencing, directed Jharkhand director general of police (DGP) M.V. Rao to immediately constitute a special investigating team (SIT) to probe the incident. He asked the DGP to monitor the case personally and take erring officials to task, if needed.

The victim’s father, Shankar Paswan of Giridih, through his writ petition to the high court, has stated that he had filed an FIR against one Pintu Paswan, a resident of Dhanwar, for trying to rape his daughter and then murdering her by setting her on fire in a room where she had been kept confined.

After the incident, Pintu fled but left behind his cap and shoes, which helped identify him. Paswan accused the police of stalling investigations. He told the court that even though an FIR was lodged at Dhanwar police station on March 31, no one had been arrested yet.

During the hearing, Justice Sen expressed his unhappiness over the delay in investigations, stating that the courts could not turn a blind eye over such an issue. “The progress of investigations is highly unsatisfactory and lacks seriousness by the investigating officer concerned. Even the supervising officer does not seem to be serious. But this court cannot ignore shoddy investigations,” he commented while issuing directives to the DGP.