The Delhi government official accused of raping a teen girl has been taken into custody and is being questioned, police told NDTV Monday afternoon. The officer’s wife – who reportedly fed the child medication to terminate a pregnancy as a result of the rapes – has also been taken into custody. The girl’s statement is being recorded, the police said.

The officer – Premoday Khakha – is accused of raping the minor daughter of his friend multiple times from October 2020 to February 2021. The young girl, then 14, became pregnant during this period and Khakha’s wife allegedly gave her abortion pills while covering for her husband.

Delhi Police’s move to take the accused into custody comes after the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said ‘failure to arrest the officer is the worst part of this case’.

“The officer committed a heinous act. His wife was also complicit… this is an incident that has shaken the society. Action should have been taken sooner… Delhi Police’s failure to arrest the officer is the worst part of this case. Everyone has daughters, and this is a very shameful act. The officer should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said.

Suspend official, says Delhi CM

Earlier today Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded Khakha – who is posted to the Women and Child Development Department – be suspended from service.

The Chief Minister has sought a report from the Chief Secretary by 5 pm.

The Delhi government has also demanded the sternest possible action against the accused and said it remains ‘sensitive regard to such serious matters of women’s safety and child abuse.

What happened to the young girl?

Khakha met the young girl for the first time at a church and their paths crossed again in 2020 when she was mourning her father’s death. The girl was staying with Khakha and his family at their home after her father’s death on October 1, 2020. According to the police, Khakha allegedly raped the girl on multiple occasions between November 2020 and January 2021.

The accused’s wife has also been charged with giving the girl medication to terminate her pregnancy. When the girl became pregnant, she told Khakha’s wife. The wife then asked her son to get medication to terminate the pregnancy and gave it to the girl.

How were the rapes discovered?

The matter was brought to light when the girl, who is now in Class XII, narrated her ordeal to a counsellor at the hospital where she was admitted for an anxiety attack in August this year.

She was admitted to St Stephen’s Hospital, where she told a counsellor about the abuse she had experienced. The survivor returned home to her mother in January 2021.

The survivor is still on the road to recovery and is receiving care.

DCW chief Maliwal slams ‘predator’

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal termed the officer a “predator” and called for his immediate arrest. “In Delhi, a government officer sitting on the post of Deputy Director in the Women and Child Development Department has been accused of sexually abusing a girl child. The police haven’t arrested him yet. Issuing notice to Delhi Police. If the one whose job was to protect the daughters turns into a predator, then where will the girls go! Must be arrested soon!” Ms Maliwal wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.