Supreme Court of India criticised the Haryana Police for its shameful handling of a three-year-old’s rape in Gurugram and formed an SIT of women IPS officers for an impartial probe. Stating the police must visit the victim’s house.
The Supreme Court sharply criticized the Haryana Police for its “shameful” and “insensitive” handling of the rape of a three-year-old and on Wednesday formed a Special Investigation Team composed of women IPS officers to ensure an impartial probe into the incident in Gurugram.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, instructed the Haryana government to notify the SIT immediately and ordered the Gurugram Police to hand over the investigation files to the new panel.
The court reproved the Haryana Police for downgrading the charges in the FIR shifting from a more serious provision to a lesser one under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court Stays High Court’s Strict Remarks Against Haryana’s Add. Advocate General
It also censured a doctor at a private hospital for drastically changing her account of the child’s statement, saying,
“It was shameful for a doctor to do so.”
The bench issued show-cause notices to Gurugram Police officials, asking why they should not face action for conducting a negligent investigation.
Calling the policing approach “shameful” and insensitive, the court remarked,
“Why cannot the police go to the victim’s house? Are they kings? The one who went was arrested on corruption charges,”
A show-cause notice was also issued to the Gurugram Child Welfare Committee (CWC), with the court asking why its members should not be removed.
The bench noted that the CWC’s conduct, as reflected in the February 5 report, worsened the girl’s victimization.
It further observed that the police from the commissioner down to the sub-inspector appeared to have tried to demonstrate that there was no evidence and that the parents were not making a genuine complaint, adding that,
“There is no room for doubt that an offence on Section 6 under POCSO was apparently committed.”
The court directed the Gurugram district judge to assign the matter to a senior woman judicial officer serving in a POCSO court in the city.
Police said the three-year-old was allegedly sexually assaulted over roughly two months by two female domestic workers and a male accomplice at a residence in Sector 54. An FIR was filed on February 4 at the Sector 53 police station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the POCSO Act after the child reportedly disclosed the abuse to her mother.
Authorities state the abuse occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, and the parents lodged their complaint following the child’s revelation.