Rape accused not tested for Covid, CJM livid

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The Court today ridiculed the OC of Bhatar PS in Burdwan (East) and one investigating officer handling a rape case as they held two accused without their covid-19 tests.

The accused were intercepted yesterday after they had returned from Gujarat. The police today forwarded them before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Burdwan.

Swapan Banerjee – the lawyer appearing on behalf of the accused complained to the Court that the accused had travelled down to Burdwan town from Gujarat and the police didn’t bother for their covid-19 test but forwarded them to Court today. Hearing this, the CJM (In-Charge), Monika Chatterjee Saha flared up and pulled up the officers for their ‘callous’ and ‘casual approach’ at a time when the entire nation was struggling hard to check covid19 outbreak.

She also issued show-cause to the OC, Bhatar PS and the IO of the case today.

She further directed for immediate sanitization of the Court’s lockup and the section where the accused were taken without a covid test.

A woman had complained that a youth of Bamsore village had raped her promising to marry her and one brother of the accused had assisted the culprit to flee the area accompanying him to Gujarat.