Supreme Court Orders All-Women SIT to Investigate Ghaziabad Child Rape and Murder Case
Introduction
The Supreme Court of India has ordered the creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, in March 2025. The order, issued on Friday, April 25, 2025, came after the victim''s father filed a petition claiming he was unhappy with the local police investigation.
Main Body
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, instructed the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police to set up an all-women SIT. The team will be led by an officer of Commissioner or Inspector General rank and will include two additional female officers at the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent or Inspector levels. The SIT must begin its investigation immediately. It must submit a status report to the Supreme Court''s Registrar (Judicial) and a supplementary report to the trial court within two weeks. The court ordered the trial court to pause proceedings on the chargesheet already filed by the Ghaziabad Police. The SIT''s responsibilities include investigating complaints from the victim''s parents about witness security and alleged negligence by two private hospitals—Khajan Singh Mannvi Health Care and St Joseph Hospital—which reportedly refused to admit the injured child. The victim was later declared dead at a government hospital. According to the petition, on March 16, 2025, a neighbor allegedly tricked the child into leaving by offering to buy chocolates. When she did not return, her father found her unconscious and covered in blood. The father''s lawyer, senior advocate N. Hariharan, argued that the police had pressured the father to change his statement and were protecting the hospitals. He pointed out that the hospitals had filed affidavits claiming the child was alive, but no witnesses from the hospitals had been questioned. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Ghaziabad Police, stated that a chargesheet had been filed and the trial had started. The Supreme Court had previously, on April 10 and April 13, 2025, criticized the police''s handling of the case, noting they were reluctant to file an FIR and showed a lack of sensitivity in the investigation. The court had also ordered the police to give the father a complete copy of the chargesheet, after some pages were initially hidden.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court has stepped in to move the investigation from the Ghaziabad Police to a court-monitored, all-women SIT. This decision was based on the father''s dissatisfaction and concerns about procedural mistakes. The SIT is now responsible for conducting a fresh investigation into the crime and the alleged failures of the hospitals, while the original trial is on hold.