A 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped near a highway in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr has moved the Supreme Court seeking police complaint against minister Azam Khan for his outrageous comments.

 

In her petition, the victim also demanded the transfer of this case to New Delhi, a court-monitored probe and security and rehabilitation for her family.

The girl, along with her family, was going to a funeral late on July 29, when armed men stopped their car, tied and beat up the men and gang-raped the girl and her 35-year-old mother for almost three hours.

 

After the gang-rape incident, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan kicked up a controversy with his insensitive remarks suggesting that this gang-rape could be a political conspiracy against the Uttar Pradesh government.

 

"We need to investigate whether this is a conspiracy by opponents who want to defame the government," said Mr Khan.

"For votes, people can stoop to any level. There can be a Muzaffarnagar, a Shamli and Kairana...why not this? For power, politicians can murder people, trigger riots, kill innocent people, so the truth has to be found out," he remarked.

In a snub to the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad high court on Friday ordered a CBI inquiry into the case observing that it was "not satisfied" with the police investigation so far.

 

The high court, which had taken suo motu cognisance of the July 29 incident, also said it intended to "monitor the investigation into the case".

 

"We are not satisfied, neither with the way the investigation appears to be taking place nor with the material that has been placed on record," the court said and directed the state government to produce the FIR lodged in connection with the crime, the rape victims' medical reports and statements of witnesses by the next date of hearing on August 17.

 

The court also expressed dissatisfaction with details of the social background, criminal records and political affiliations - if any - which had been provided in the status report as per its earlier order, dated August 8, which was the first date of hearing on the matter.

Significantly, the court had made it clear at the outset that it intended to "monitor the investigation into the case" and not dispose of the matter which is being heard as a Public Interest Litigation, titled "In the matter of rape of mother and daughter at NH 91".

 

The 39-year-old cab driver whose family was attacked, said: "We don't want politics. We don't want politicians visiting. We want justice. My child has barely spoken since the attack."