Ranchi, March 30 (IAN) The Jharkhand High Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of the rape and brutal murder of a minor girl in the Vishnugarh area of Hazaribagh district and issued notices to the State Home Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP), seeking their responses.

The court adopted a stern view of the incident and expressed deep concern over the delay in arresting the accused. It also directed the authorities to provide adequate security to the victim’s family.

Advocate Hemant Shikarwar brought the matter to the court’s attention, citing media reports and describing the incident as comparable to the Delhi ‘Nirbhaya’ case. He said the perpetrators had crossed all limits of brutality.

Terming the crime a heinous act that shames humanity, the court sought details of the investigation from the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Hazaribagh, who appeared virtually in the proceedings.

The SP informed the court that police teams had reached the spot immediately after receiving information about the incident and collected crucial evidence with the help of a forensic team and dog squad. He said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been set up on the directions of DGP Tadasha Mishra and was actively probing the case.

The SP assured the court that the accused would be identified and arrested soon. However, the court observed that the failure to arrest the culprits even six days after the incident was a matter of serious concern.

According to the police, the incident occurred on the evening of Ram Navami, when a Mangala Shobhayatra was being held in the village. The minor girl had gone to watch the procession but did not return home. After an overnight search, her mutilated body was recovered from the bushes near the village the next day. Preliminary investigation suggests she was raped before being murdered.

The incident has triggered widespread outrage in the region, with local residents staging protests demanding swift justice. The BJP has called a bandh in Hazaribagh on this issue today.

--IANS

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