HC seeks report on girl's assault in court

Patna: A division bench of

Patna high court

comprising acting chief justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and

Justice Anjana Mishra

on Thursday, while hearing a case referred by district judge, Patna related to a married woman being dragged and badly assaulted outside the civil court premises here on March 1, directed the SSP, Patna to file a report by March 16.

Aparajita, an MBA student of a Ghaziabad-based college, has lodged a case with Pirbahore police station, charging her parents and some relatives with assaulting her.

The woman, who hails from Hanuman Nagar locality here, told police the incident took place when she and her husband Avinash Kumar, a resident of Malahi Pakri, went to the court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) to record their statement in the case filed by her parents alleging that she was kidnapped.

"As soon as we reached the gate of the CJM court, more than 25 people suddenly caught me by hair, dragged me for some distance, tore my clothes and started assaulting me. While policemen present there remained mute spectators, some court officers came to my rescue," she has said in the FIR.

She added her father had lodged a case on January 27 with Kankarbagh police station, accusing Avinash of kidnapping her. "I married Avinash on January 25 and also informed the family about it the next day," the woman has stated.

"After coming to know about the false kidnapping case, I sent photographs of our marriage to Kankarbagh police station SHO Vijay Kumar Mishra," she added.

"In the meantime, my family was putting pressure on me to leave Avinash. When I did not agree to marry the person of their choice, they attacked me," she said in the FIR.

Reached for comments, Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said, "The couple had come to my office and I asked them not to visit the court without police protection. However, they went to the court without informing the police. We are investigating the matter."