Lucknow, A day after removing the superintendent of police in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has removed the District Magistrate Pramod Kumar Upadhyaya for the inordinate delay in investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl student of a residential school in the district on September 16.
Mahendra Bahadur Singh has been appointed the new District Magistrate, Mainpuri.
Meanwhile, the three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state government, has initiated its probe in the matter.
Inspector General Kanpur zone Mohit Agarwal, who heads the team, interacted with the school staff before visiting the crime spot. He told reporters that he is collecting all details and further course of action will be decided accordingly. He refused to divulge any details saying that it may hamper the ongoing investigations.
The DNA samples of four male members, three boy students and one staff member of the school, were a collected by doctors in the district hospital in Mainpuri.
According to officials, five persons including four male persons were taken to Lucknow for polygraph test.
When contacted, the girl’s father Subhash Chandra Pandey said that they now expect a fair inquiry into the matter.
“We had requested the then district magistrate and police chief to conduct a second post-mortem, as there were injury marks on the body and they were clearly visible but were not mentioned in the post mortem report,” he said.
It may be recalled that a class 11 girl student was found dead inside the hostel’s prayer room on September 16. She had left a suicide note in which she wrote that she was ending her life as she was “never forgiven and subjected to constant humiliation” by schoolmates after she stole a packet of snacks three years ago.
The family members of the girl accused the school administration for the girl’s death. The deceased’s mother said she was not informed by the school authorities about the incident even after doctors had declared her dead.
According to police, an FIR had been registered at Bhogaon police station in Mainpuri under relevant sections of IPC and 7/8 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on a complaint filed by the deceased’s father against the principal and warden of the school and a youth, accusing them of attempt to rape and murder.
However, the autopsy report ruled out possibilities of rape and given the cause of death as “Asphyxia due to hanging”.
On September 27, the state government had sent a letter to secretary, personnel and training department recommending a CBI inquiry into the death of the girl. “A reminder for the CBI inquiry is being sent again,” said an official in the home department.
The matter took a political turn, when Congress General Secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took up the issue and wrote a letter to Yogi Adityanath last week urging him to take action in the case of the death of the girl student.
In the letter, Priyanka had requested the Chief Minister to ensure speedy justice to the family of the victim by taking action against the accused named in the FIR. She further stated that wounds were found on the body of the victim, but it was not mentioned in the post-mortem report.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah who assured him that the CBI would take up the case soon.
