Delhi family still waiting for verdict eight years after infant’s rape

A Delhi family is still waiting for a verdict more than eight years after their eight-month-old daughter was raped, Al Jazeera reported. The case has renewed scrutiny of long delays in child sexual assault trials in India, where the law calls for faster proceedings.

The girl, identified by Al Jazeera under the pseudonym Pia, is now nearing nine. Her parents, identified as Rakhi and Madhav, told Al Jazeera they have kept the assault from her and worry they may not be able to do so much longer.

The 2018 attack and arrest

According to Al Jazeera, the assault took place on January 28, 2018, in a northwest Delhi neighbourhood where the family lived in an eight-by-eight-foot room in a shared family home. Rakhi worked in nearby homes and Madhav worked as a daily-wage construction labourer, Al Jazeera reported.

Rakhi told Al Jazeera she returned from work to find the baby badly injured and screaming. A local doctor examined the child and urged the family to go to police, after which a First Information Report was filed at Netaji Subhash Place police station under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Al Jazeera reported.

Police said Suraj, then 28 and the son of Madhav’s eldest brother, confessed the same day and was taken into custody, according to Al Jazeera. Suraj has remained in judicial custody since his arrest, the outlet reported.

The child was first treated at Kalavati Saran Children’s Hospital and later moved to AIIMS in New Delhi after a Supreme Court directive, Al Jazeera reported. She underwent an emergency operation and two further procedures at AIIMS, according to the report.

A trial still in progress

The family’s first court hearing was on March 12, 2018, Al Jazeera reported. The proceedings are still continuing, with hearings taking place about every three months and medical and police witnesses currently giving evidence, according to the report.

The POCSO Act requires special courts to try child sexual offence cases and aims for completion within one year from the date the court takes cognisance of the offence, Al Jazeera noted. That timeline has not been met in Pia’s case.

Ashish Kumar, director of Legal Interventions at the HAQ Centre for Child Rights, the NGO assisting the family, told Al Jazeera that errors in police evidence collection have been raised by the defence and have slowed the case. He also cited heavy case backlogs and court practices that can blunt the purpose of child-focused special courts.

ASI Parvati Devi, the investigating officer when the FIR was filed, told Al Jazeera she believed punishment would follow, while noting that the accused has already spent more than seven years in custody. Kumar told Al Jazeera she missed a recent summons and is expected to be called again after other delays are addressed.

Support faded as the case dragged on

Al Jazeera reported that the case drew protests in Delhi and attention from international media in 2018. Swati Maliwal, then chair of the Delhi Commission for Women, visited the hospital and later gave the family a personal cheque for 50,000 rupees, according to the report.

The Delhi Legal Services Authority paid an interim 75,000 rupees to the family, while a plea seeking 1,000,000 rupees in compensation continued before the Supreme Court, Al Jazeera reported.

National Crime Records Bureau data cited by Al Jazeera show reported child rape cases in India rose from 19,765 in 2016 to 40,434 in 2023. The bureau also found that perpetrators were known to victims in 97 percent of rape cases in India, according to Al Jazeera.

Rakhi and Madhav remain in the same one-room home with Pia and her older sister, Al Jazeera reported. The parents no longer attend court because they are not required for testimony, instead checking with prosecutors after hearings.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.