Minor rape-murder case moving in right direction: HC

Chennai: Declining to interfere with the ongoing police probe into the rape-murder of a 10-year-old girl in Coimbatore, Madras high court said the investigation is prima facie proceeding in the right direction. The court could not dictate to the police how an investigation should be conducted, said a vacation bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan on Friday.

The judges then reserved their orders on a public interest writ petition seeking the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Sulur rape-murder case. The PIL, filed by P Chokkalingam, president of the north Tamil Nadu unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, wanted the SIT comprising senior police officers for a free and transparent probe into the case. It also sought a direction to restrain all forms of media reporting related to the incident, contending that videos circulating on social media were adversely affecting the investigation.

Appearing for the state, advocate-general Vijay Narayan said authorities were awaiting the results of DNA tests and that Sankaran had been appointed as special public prosecutor to conduct the trial. He said instructions had been issued to file a charge sheet at the earliest to ensure speedy justice. Vijay Narayan also said the govt was taking special measures to address sexual crimes against women and children.

He informed the court that authorities had approached Instagram seeking removal of videos related to the case circulating online and that the process could take at least seven days. He further said detailed guidelines would be framed to prevent sexual offences against women and children.

Senior govt criminal counsel John Sathyan submitted that the investigation was being supervised by an additional superintendent of police and that both accused had been detained under the Goondas Act.