New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday directed authorities to act on allegations that a 14-year-old girl who took part in the July Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests was harassed after filing an FIR and warned that no one should be allowed to pressure her or her family into dropping criminal proceedings.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure that action was taken on the girl's FIR. It also sought reports from the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments on the allegations.

"Such matters cannot be taken lightly. Nobody should be protected if violence against a child is involved," the bench said. It added that allowing accused persons to remain free while allegedly trying to intimidate the child or her family would be a serious matter.

The girl's counsel told the court that her house was vandalised after she lodged the FIR against a man who had claimed in a video that he assaulted her father during the CJP protest. The lawyer alleged that people seen accompanying the accused in the video had not been prosecuted, while an FIR was instead registered against the minor.

The counsel also said this was contrary to an earlier Supreme Court order and offered to place on record a video purportedly showing stones being thrown at the girl's residence.

"The high-powered committee will take time, but if something happens to the child in the meantime, that cannot subsequently be reversed or repaired through the committee," the lawyer submitted.

The hearing came days after Delhi Police on September 5 added provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and criminal intimidation to the FIR against Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj over the alleged assault on the girl's father.

Bhardwaj was detained in Bulandshahr after the CJP protest outside the Parliament Street police station seeking his arrest. The action followed an interview in which he claimed he had "cracked the skull" of the girl's father during the July 20 protest and avoided arrest because of political connections.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.