Crime Branch to probe Kanpur schoolgirl's rape

Uttar Pradesh police chief Karamveer Singh Saturday announced a probe by the Crime Branch into the brutal rape of a minor schoolgirl in Kanpur, which led to her death.

The nine-year-old girl died on the night of Sep 27 after being subjected to physical assault, including sodomy and rape, and torture.

At a press conference here, Karamveer Singh declared that Munna, a servant of the Bharti Gyansthali School owner Chandrapal Verma, had already confessed to the crime and was under arrest along with the owner and his son Piyush Verma.

When a journalist cited the widely alleged direct involvement of the owner's son, the DGP remarked: "Well, the owner and his son were found guilty of negligence in not taking adequate care of the little girl after she was discovered in a semi-conscious state on the school campus."

"Instead of making arrangements to hospitalise the victim, the school owner and his son simply put her on a rickshaw and told to go home."

Dissatisfied with the CB-CID probe, the victim's parents have been seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry.

"It is just a farce making it pretty evident that police is only out to protect the real culprits. An impartial inquiry would be possible only if the case is referred to CBI," the girl's father Hamir Singh told IANS over telephone from Kanpur.