The Supreme Court of India has delivered a scathing indictment of the Haryana Police and the Gurugram Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for their "shameful" and "insensitive" handling of a sexual assault case involving a three-year-old girl. Expressing deep-seated concern over the procedural failures, the Supreme Court on Wednesday constituted a Special Investigation Team of women IPS officers to conduct a fair investigation into the crime that took place in Gurugram.
The Failure Of System
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi slammed the authorities for their lack of empathy. Doctor of a private hospital also pulled up for completely chanaging her version on child's statement.
The Court was particularly appalled by the fact that the toddler was repeatedly summoned to the police station instead of officers visiting her residence.
"Why cannot the police go to the victim's house? Are they kings? The one who went was arrested on corruption charges," the top court said, calling the approach "shameful" and "insensitive".
The bench further observed that the entire police hierarchy from the Commissioner down to the Sub-Inspector, seemed focused on delegitimising the victim’s claims rather than seeking justice.
Key Judicial Interventions
Downgrading Charges: The Court rapped the police for diluting the FIR by replacing harsher POCSO provisions with milder ones.
Medical Misconduct: A private hospital doctor was reprimanded for altering her version of the child’s statement. The bench remarked: "It was shameful for a doctor to do so."
CWC Under Fire: The Child Welfare Committee was issued a show-cause notice regarding their potential removal, with the Court noting their conduct "compounded the victimisation."
The Incident And Legal Recourse
The assault allegedly took place between December 2025 and January 2026 at a high-rise society in Sector 54, Gurugram. The perpetrators, two female domestic workers and a male accomplice, are accused of repeated abuse over a two-month period. Although an FIR was eventually registered on February 4, the parents were forced to move the Supreme Court seeking a monitored probe due to blatant police negligence.
Immediate Directives
"The conduct of CWC members, as seen from the February 5 report, compounded the victimisation. The entire police force, from commissioner to the sub-inspector, made all attempts to prove that the child had no proof and the parents did not make any case. There is no room for doubt that an offence on Section 6 under POCSO was apparently committed," the bench observed.
The Haryana government must immediately notify the SIT, and the Gurugram Police have been ordered to hand over all case records by Thursday. Furthermore, the Police Commissioner and the Investigating Officer must personally appear before the Court on March 25 with the complete case file.