New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognizance on Monday of a horrific assault on a 38-year-old woman advocate, allegedly perpetrated by her husband in the national capital. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi expressed grave concern over the brutality of the incident and directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to transfer the investigation to a senior officer, preferably a woman in the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) or Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
The top court’s intervention followed an urgent letter seeking judicial oversight in the case. Beyond the criminal assault, the bench expanded the scope of the inquiry to include the conduct of medical institutions, directing the investigating officer to probe why three separate hospitals reportedly refused admission to the victim after the attack. The court noted that the failure to provide immediate medical care to a victim in such a critical state warrants independent scrutiny.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Delhi Police, informed the court that the prime accused, Manoj Kumar, was arrested on the intervening night of April 25 and 26. Kumar, a resident of Sonia Vihar, had been at large since the incident on April 22, during which he allegedly stabbed his wife multiple times following a domestic dispute. He was eventually apprehended in the Khajuri Khas area and has reportedly confessed to the crime, citing “domestic discord” as the motive.
A particularly distressing aspect of the case involves the victim’s two minor children. The complaint alleges that the victim’s in-laws forcibly took the children away, and their current whereabouts remain unknown. Consequently, the bench has ordered the police to prioritize the recovery of the children and mandated the submission of a detailed status report on the entire probe. This judicial intervention underscores the Supreme Court’s proactive stance on violence against legal professionals and the enforcement of medical accountability for victims of violent crimes.
