New Delhi [India], May 12 : Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Delhi Unit President Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote a letter to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) Taranjit Singh Sandhu over the rape of a three-year-old girl at SS Mota Singh School, demanding strict action against police officials condemned for threatening and harassing the victim's family.
According to an official release, reminding the LG of his constitutional responsibility, the AAP Delhi State President said the Delhi Police functions under his direct authority and that he cannot remain a mute spectator if officers shield the accused instead of protecting the victim.
He also sought an appointment with the LG, stating that constitutional offices funded by Delhi taxpayers cannot be used to protect erring officials.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters on Monday, Delhi State Chief Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, "A three-year-old girl was raped at SS Mota Singh School in Janakpuri. According to the child's mother, the class teacher took the girl from the classroom to a dark room in the basement where a bed had been placed. There, in the presence of the teacher, a man raped the child. The girl suffered bleeding, which the teacher cleaned with tissue paper. The matter came to light only after the child returned home."
The AAP Delhi State President questioned why Rekha Gupta was silent on the matter, and further questioned, "Is she not the Chief Minister of Delhi? Has she still not come to know about this school?" He also questioned Education Minister Ashish Sood and said, "His residence is barely two minutes away from the school, yet he has remained silent."
Saurabh Bharadwaj also questioned the silence of BJP leaders Virendra Sachdeva and Praveen Shankar Kapoor, asking why none of them had spoken on the issue. "It feels as though Delhi has become a city of the deaf and mute. Why is this matter being suppressed? What is the reason behind it?" he said.
The AAP Delhi unit chief further highlighted that the SS Mota Singh School owns three large properties and land worth crores of rupees. He further noted that a very senior BJP leader purchased the school a few weeks ago. "Rekha Gupta knows who it is. So does BJP minister Ashish Sood. Parvesh Verma and Manjinder Singh Sirsa all know who bought the school and which senior BJP leader has acquired stakes in it. They know about it, and that is why the matter is being suppressed," he asserted.
The AAP leader said the matter was being suppressed to such an extent that the 57-year-old man arrested in the rape case was granted bail within five days in a POCSO case, where bail is usually not granted for years. "Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the burden lies on the accused to prove innocence, yet Special POCSO Court judge Rohit Gulia granted bail within five days," he said.
He further emphasised that the LG appears more interested in eating chhole-bhature and getting reels made about it, and said, "The LG is no longer just a babu; he must come out of reel life and enter real life. The LG seems to think Delhi residents' lives will be fulfilled merely by watching reels of him eating chhole-bhature and jalebi."
He said he had written a letter to the LG stating that this was not a matter of convenience or comfort, where action could be taken at will or ignored at will. "He receives a salary from Delhi taxpayers' money, and the large car and bungalow he lives in are funded by taxpayers. He cannot think that while Saurabh Bharadwaj writes letters, he can get away by posting videos of chhole-bhature," Bharadwaj said.
The senior AAP leader said he informed the LG in his letter that DCP Sharad Bhaskar of the Delhi Police, which functions under the LG, was threatening the child's parents. He further stated that SHO Kuldeep Kumar Tiwari and other police officers kept the girl's parents seated in the police station the entire day and subjected them to harassment.
He also emphasised that such a weak case had been prepared that the accused would immediately secure bail and could even be discharged within a few days.
Saurabh Bharadwaj concluded by asserting that AAP would not allow a situation in the national capital where a DCP threatens the girl's parents while Rekha Gupta remains silent. "We will not listen to them say that this was the girl's fate. In this matter, we will shake the government to its core, and until this girl gets justice, we will not let the government sleep," he said