On Monday (August 21), the police arrested a Delhi government officer named Premoday Khakha in connection to the rape of the minor daughter of his deceased friend.
Khakha worked as a Deputy Director in the AAP-led government’s Women and Child Development (WCD) Department. Citing sources, journalist Pallavi Ghosh informed that the rape accused served as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the WCD Minister.
Sources say the wcd officer accused of rape was handpicked to become Osd to wcd minister in delhi govt – this is how close it gets pic.twitter.com/rqEUaJJ4Dl
— pallavi ghosh (@_pallavighosh) August 21, 2023
An order [pdf] of the Delhi government, dated June 16, 2022, also mentioned Premodaya Khakha as an OSD to the Minister of Women and Child Development. Incumbent AAP Minister Atishi Marlena has cried foul over the matter and dismissed allegations of working with the rape accused.
Interestingly, his LinkedIn profile of Khakha also highlights his role as the OSD to the Government of Delhi since March 2022. It must be mentioned that controversial AAP leader Rajendra Pal Gautam was the WCD Minister at that time.
They should further clarify if he was OSD to Rajendra Pal Gautam or not. Because the letter in circulation (below) of his appointment is dated Mar 2022 when Rajendra Pal Gautam was the WCD minister, not Atishi. pic.twitter.com/FyMOvgAf6q
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) August 21, 2023
Premoday Khakha connected to the victim through Church
A glance at the social media profile of the rape-accused officer reveals that he is a devout Christian. Premoday Khakha has posted several pictures of his visit to Churches. A Facebook display picture, uploaded by him, reads, “Jesus is Lord…over the World”
Priyank Kanoongo, the Chief of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), informed, “Preliminary investigation revealed that the victim came in contact with the family of Premoday Khakha through a Church. She had been living with the accused since April 2020.”
He pointed out the procedural lapses that took place in handing over the custody of the child to the accused. The NCPCR Chief added that the name of the victim is missing from the list of orphans, filed by the Delhi government, as mandated by the Supreme Court of India.
“The role of the Church, in this case, is suspicious,” he added.
Delhi Police arrested Premoday Khakha and his wife for this heinous crime pic.twitter.com/eMbnfdh7of
— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) August 21, 2023
The two families initially came into contact in 1998 while attending Sunday services at the Amazing Grace Church in Shahdara, East Delhi. However, they connected stronger over several similarities in lifestyle. Both families belonged to Ranchi in Jharkhand and they both adhered to the Lutheran Church.
When they relocated to Delhi, they explored a Lutheran church and found Amazing Grace Church instead, which was established in 1992 by Ajit Kumar Horo, a Ranchi resident, at his home in Bihari Colony in Shahdara.
After having himself given up looking for a Lutheran prayer place in the Capital, Horo is said to have formed the church.
The small, close-knit church has been around for more than 30 years, but even after moving twice—from Shahdara to Mukherjee Nagar in 2002 and again to Burari in 2015—it only has 30 families as members. The church today operates from a two-story building in Himgiri Enclave residential colony.
Incomplete caste details
Premoday Khakha was initially appointed to the post of Welfare Officer in the Social Welfare Department of Govt. of NCT of Delhi on 12.10.1998. This posting was on a post reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). He had produced his ST certificate then.
In 2011, he approached the court against the Delhi government because his application for the post of Superintendent was rejected. The rape accused had submitted incomplete caste details in the format that was prescribed by the government.
The Court had upheld that he had not furnished full information and therefore, the cancellation of his candidature was legitimate.
Hiding in plain sight
According to the LinkedIn profile of Premoday Khakha, he has been working with the Delhi government since 1998. He has held several positions, including Probation Officer, Superintendent, and Deputy Director in the past 25 years at the ‘Women and Child Development Department.
Popular OSINT handle, The Hawk Eye, wrote, “In all probability, he might have exploited the victim’s feelings & vulnerabilities very cleverly & so she remained silent under immense trauma for 3yrs!”
In all probability he might have exploited the victim's feelings & vulnerabilities very cleverly & so she remained silent under immense trauma for 3yrs!
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) August 21, 2023
Here, Khakha is delivering welcome address to a 3 days workshop organised on Juvenile Justice Act and POCSO in Aug'22.
3/ pic.twitter.com/ugJ4MUzfkz
The handle shared images of Premoday Khakha, giving a welcome address on a 3-day workshop about the Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 and the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences Act of 2012.
Record of harassment and financial irregularities at the workplace,
Premoday Khakha was accused of sexual harassment of children during his tenure as the superintendent of ‘Observation Home for Boys, Sewa Kutir Complex’.
In a letter dated March 5, 2019, the Joint Registrar of the Delhi High Court sought the transfer of Khakha from the children’s home until an enquiry is completed into the matter by the Juvenile Justice Committee.
The letter explicitly mentioned that the accused should not be transferred to a children’s home or given a position where he could influence the enquiry in any way.
In another letter dated March 7, 2019, it came to light that Premoday Khakha was accused of harassing female workers at the ‘Observation Home for Boys, Sewa Kutir Complex’.
“Since the complaint contained to some allegations of harassment to the female staff of OHB-II, it was decided to assign the matter to Deputy Director (WEC) for a personal interaction with the female staff whose names were mentioned in the complaint,” the letter read.
Reportedly, a complaint was also lodged against the Delhi government official over financial irregularities in FY 2019-19 in ‘Boys-II, Sewa Kutir, Kingsway Camp’.
It was filed by Welfare Officer, Brijkishore Pandey, and the Joint Registrar of Delhi High Court had sought a response from the Department on August 27, 2019.
From the above letters, it became evident that the Delhi government did not act against Premoday Khakha and the Joint Registrar of the Delhi High Court had to intervene in the matter.
Despite allegations of sexual harassment at the workplace, the accused was not only promoted to the position of the Deputy Director of the WCD but also allegedly made the OSD to the Minister of the Women and Child Department.
Premoday Khakha accused of raping minor, wife gave abortion pills to victim
On 1st October 2020, the victim’s father passed away, after which she used to stay stressed. The deputy director brought her to his house. During her stay at his house, he raped her multiple times between November 2020 and January 2021.
When the victim got pregnant during that period, his wife asked her to keep quiet. The couple’s son brought medicine from the market to abort the child, which she gave to the victim.
The incident came to light after the victim was admitted to St Stephen’s Hospital to treat an anxiety attack last week. During counselling at the hospital, the victim revealed that the Deputy Director of WCD raped her several times.
#WATCH | The now-suspended rape-accused Delhi government official and his wife have been detained by Police.
— ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2023
The official has been booked for allegedly raping his deceased friend's minor daughter for several months. pic.twitter.com/WN7YSqEi5E
The hospital informed Burari Police Station and an FIR was registered. The victim is not in a position to submit her statement in front of a Magistrate under Section 154. The police have questioned the accused and FIR has been registered under Sections 376(2), 506, 509, 323, 313, 120B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and POCSO Act.
The victim is currently studying in class 12th in a school situated in the civil lines area.
